star trek human history timeline

A Complete Timeline of Star Trek

From comparatively humble origins, Star Trek has grown into one of the most complex universes in pop culture. Here's how its bright future unfolds.

Star Trek stands as one of the most enduring and influential pop-culture franchises on the planet. From a comparatively humble cult TV series, it has expanded into an entire universe of speculative future history encompassing dozens of movies and TV shows. With more projects on the way, it doesn't look to slow down anytime soon. That can lead to a convoluted timeline, particularly in the early days when no one expected it to last as long as it has.

Star Trek: The Original Series producers didn't worry about what came before or after their show, and series creator Gene Roddenberry had a way of simply ignoring episodes he considered sub-par. Writers Michael and Denise Okuda are largely credited with firmly establishing a canonical Star Trek timeline during the expansion of the franchise following Star Trek: The Next Generation . That's resulted in a definable, if complicated, fictional history to chart the rise of the United Federation of Planets and its development through centuries of galactic history. Here's a breakdown of the Star Trek in-universe timeline, divided roughly by era.

The Early Years of Star Trek's Timeline Are Vague

Wrath of khan creates star trek's biggest plot hole, and the real-life explanation is hilarious.

The early years of Star Trek 's timeline run into a number of real-world continuity issues. This was most notable with the Eugenics Wars , which originally took place in the 1990s, but has since been retconned to an indeterminate point in the future. They're linked to the rise of genetically augmented humans who conquer and rule much of the planet, led by the notorious Khan Noonien Singh. The Eugenics Wars culminate in a Third World War, and the ensuing nuclear apocalypse all but destroys civilization. Khan and his followers escape the planet in a stasis ship, and await their rendezvous with Captain Kirk in The Original Series episode, "Space Seed."

The most important event after that arrives on April 5, 2063, subsequently known as First Contact Day. As depicted in Star Trek: First Contact , scientist Zefram Cochrane develops a faster-than-light engine and tests it in his vessel, the Phoenix . A Vulcan survey vessel notices the feat and makes first contact with Cochrane in Bozeman, Montana that evening. With the Vulcans' help, humanity quickly gets back on its feet. Hunger and poverty are eliminated by the early 22nd century, and even war itself has ended on the planet by 2113. A world government is established in 2150, uniting the globe under a single unifying body for the first time in human history.

Enterprise Reveals The Founding of the Federation

Why star trek: enterprise used shuttles instead of transporters.

The events of Star Trek: Enterprise begin just one year later, in 2151, as humanity launches its first earnest efforts to explore the galaxy. Captain Archer and the crew of the Enterprise spearhead the effort, resulting in key first contact with such important species as the Andorians and the Tellarites. It also comes with new conflicts, notably the Xindi crisis of 2153 which lasts for nearly a year. That is followed in 2156 by the Earth-Romulan War , which stretches out over four years. Humanity, Andorians, Vulcans, and Tellarites all join forces against the common threat, resulting in the defeat of the Romulans and the establishment of the Neutral Zone.

The victory leads immediately to the founding of the United Federation of Planets in San Francisco in the year 2161, organized by the four victorious species. Several decades of peaceful exploration and expansion follow, led by Starfleet vessels who set out to explore in the name of peace, coexistence, and scientific understanding. That marks the end of the events of Star Trek: Enterprise and a relative blank spot in the timeline for a little less than a century.

The 23rd Century Brings War, Peace, and The Original Series

The complete history of vulcans in the federation era of star trek.

With the exception of a few peripheral events, the next few decades are quiet as far as canon events go. The timeline picks up again properly with the beginning of Star Trek: Discovery as open war breaks out between the Federation and the Klingon Empire in the year 2256 . The war lasts for a year and proves costly to both sides, ending thanks to efforts of the USS Discovery to stabilize the political situation in the Empire. The Discovery vanishes approximately one year later during the battle with the rogue AI Control , jumping ahead in time to the 32nd century in the process.

With the end of the war comes another era of peaceful expansion and exploration. That encompasses the events of both Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: The Original Series , as Starfleet "boldly goes where no one has gone before." As the 23rd century continues, the franchise shifts to the first six big-screen Star Trek movies. That culminates in the events of Star Trek VI in 2293, resulting in the Khitomer Accords and long-term peace with the Klingon Empire . Captain Kirk is presumed dead a short time later as depicted in the movie Star Trek: Insurrection , officially bringing The Original Series era to a close.

The Next Generation Kicks off The 24th Century

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The early decades of the 24th century are another blank spot in the Star Trek calendar, marked by a few notable events but otherwise leaving a good deal open for speculation. The most important development during that time is the Battle of Narendra III in 2344 , where the Federation vessel USS Enterprise-C sacrifices itself to defend a Klingon colony from Romulan attackers. This results in a formal alliance between the Federation and the Klingons.

Star Trek: The Next Generation officially begins in the year 2364, with the Federation enjoying a golden age of peace and prosperity. The Enterprise-D under Captain Picard serves as Starfleet's flagship, conducting missions of diplomacy and peaceful exploration. The Enterprise first encounters the Borg in 2366 , during The Next Generation's Season 2 episode "Q Who." The Borg invade the Federation a year later, and come within a hair's breadth of destroying the Earth before the Enterprise crew saves the day during the Season 4 premiere, "The Best of Both Worlds Part II."

The Dominion War and the Delta Quadrant Mark DS9 and Voyager

How star trek: the next generation disserviced this fan-favorite character.

In 2369, a stable wormhole to the unexplored Gamma Quadrant opens near the planet of Bajor, kicking off the events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . What at first seems a conduit to a whole new sector of space soon becomes an existential threat. The Dominion is a powerful totalitarian government in the Gamma Quadrant ruled by a species of shape-shifting Changelings. The Dominion sets its sites on the Alpha Quadrant , and launches an invasion in 2373. The Federation is forced to rally its long-time foes in the Romulan Empire to its side, who join with Starfleet and the Klingons to finally defeat the Dominion in 2375.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Borg launch another attack on Earth in 2373, and again come perilously close to assimilating the entire Federation before Jean-Luc Picard and his crew put a stop to them during the events of Star Trek: First Contact. Amid it all, the USS Voyager vanishes in the year 2371, having been flung into the far reaches of the Delta Quadrant and launching a seven-year journey to return to Federation space.

The 24th Century Ends with Peace and Old Enemies

Star trek: lower decks paid off a deep space nine character arc.

The end of the Dominion War marks the beginning of another extended period of Federation-led peace. Voyager returns from its long journey in 2378 , and the Enterprise averts a surprise attack from the Romulan Empire in 2379 during the events of Star Trek: Insurrection . Beyond that, peace prevails, which leads the way to lighter Star Trek series such as Star Trek: Lower Decks (which begins in 2381) and Star Trek: Prodigy (which begins in 2383).

That comes to an end with the implosion of the Romulan Empire, whose sun is doomed and whose most militant factions sabotage any chance at Federation aid by orchestrating the destruction of the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on April 5, 2385. Two years later, the Romulan sun goes nova, seemingly killing Mr. Spock, who was attempting to halt the explosion and creating the Kelvinverse timeline of the 2010s big-screen Star Trek movies. It renders the Romluans a scattered and defeated people. Jean-Luc Picard is able to repair some of the damage done to the two powers in Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, then rejoin with his crewmates in Season 3 to defeat a unified Dominion/Borg attack on the Federation in the year 2402.

The Far Future Beckons

'we broke barriers': star trek: discovery star celebrates show's diversity.

Star Trek canon comes to a halt at the beginning of the 25th century after the events of Picard Season 3. That leaves a vast stretch of centuries that have not yet been defined in Star Trek canon, and will presumably be filled in by series to come. In that time, the Federation continues to expand until it is more than double the size it was in the 24th century. Then disaster strikes in the form of an event called The Burn, which instantly renders all dilithium in the galaxy inert in the year 3069. Every active warp engine detonates, causing widespread disaster and rendering interstellar travel exponentially more difficult.

The arrival of the Discovery in the year 3188 -- beginning with the premiere in Season 3 -- changes all of that. After destroying the tyrannical Emerald Chain, Captain Michael Burnham and her crew set about restoring the shattered Federation, which leads to the events of Discovery's final three seasons. With the series bowing out at the end of Season 5, subsequent Star Trek projects will have a new final frontier in the 32nd century -- uncluttered by earlier shows -- thanks to the leap forward in time.

Star Trek is currently streaming on Paramount+.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

Star Trek Timeline

A holistic view of the chronological timeline of events in the Star Trek universe(s).

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This is a fan-created site dedicated to providing a holistic view of the chronological timeline of events in the Star Trek universe(s). Most material is sourced from the Memory Alpha fandom wiki site .

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Published May 21, 2019

The Evolution of the Mirror Universe

Starfleet has always changed with the times. Its evil twin does, too.

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As we evolve, so do the stories we tell ourselves — and so do the monsters that lurk within them. Creatures like the vampires that crept into our imaginations hundreds of years ago may share a common ancestry with the ones we write about today, but they represent different dangers each time they reemerge in the zeitgeist. Heck, sometimes they even sparkle.

By comparison, half a century’s worth of Star Trek mythology hardly registers a blip on the grand timeline of human history. But because those 53 years are so well preserved on film, it’s easy to track how each iteration of the franchise shapes itself into a form that a new decade of viewers will recognize. And while there are no vampires in Trek lore (no, the Remans in Star Trek: Nemesis don’t count), there is an entire realm full of similarly alluring sadists who look like our heroes’ lost loved ones, and who’d love nothing more than to seduce them all to the dark side.

It’s got a pretty ironic name, too, when you think about it: the Mirror Universe.

More so than Klingons or Borg, or any other race that's fought the Federation, the people of the Mirror Universe are the closest thing Trek have to a consistent monster myth — partially because they've been around for so long, but mostly because their “evil” nature is the entire reason for their existence. They might be sympathetic as individuals and they’ve shown that they can adapt to cultural norms, but from their very first appearance, they were designed to scare us.

Star Trek: The Original Series | “Mirror, Mirror” (1967)

As with so many now-iconic Star Trek conceits, the Mirror Universe started with a single one-off episode, in which transporter interference from an ionic storm spits Kirk, Uhura, Scotty, and McCoy out into a “parallel” universe from their own. In place of the United Federation of Planets they find the Terran Empire, where mutinous, evil twins of their fellow crew members use the might of the ISS Enterprise to raze alien civilizations across the universe.

The Terrans are coded as foreign, threatening others from the moment the landing party emerges from the transporter. They wear gilded uniforms that fall somewhere between 19th century Persian military outfits and Pirates of Penzance costumes in appearance. Add to that Spock’s ‘60s counterculture goatee and the censor-baiting bikinis (television was a notoriously anti-belly button medium back then), and it would have been abundantly clear to a typical contemporary audience that the Mirror Universe was not a place for Good and Decent American Values.

Still, the easiest way to demonstrate a fictional society’s cruelty is to treat its women poorly ( Handmaid’s Tale and Game of Thrones do this in spades), and the Mirror Universe delivers on that front, too; Uhura quickly finds herself fending off aggressive sexual advances from her coworkers, and Marlena Moreau, the most important crewwoman on the ship, derives her power from her position as “Captain’s Woman” — in other words, from being Kirk’s concubine. Classic Star Trek certainly had its blind spots when it came to gender, but the patriarchal structure of Terran society is clearly meant to be on a completely different level of overt terribleness in comparison.

Eventually the landing party finds a way home, and for good measure Kirk throws in a starkly logical plea that Mirror Spock peacefully reform the Empire to keep it from crumbling in a century’s time (although his suggestion that the Vulcan use a machine that can literally just make people disappear doesn’t quite match up with that whole peace notion). The crew returns to their Enterprise to learn that their counterparts didn’t have much time to wreak havoc before everyone else figured out the mix-up. “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians, than it was for them as barbarians to behave like civilized men,” offers the original Spock as an explanation.

Despite the imperialistic rhetoric Spock uses, the message is clear. These “brutal, savage, unprincipled, uncivilized, treacherous” people are just as human as we are, and their evil deeds aren’t too far away from our own. Given that the ‘60s are still remembered for the systematic brutality endured by nonviolent Civil Rights protesters (and, later, antiwar protesters — the Dow Chemical riots happened just two weeks after “Mirror, Mirror” aired, in fact), this warning would have felt especially appropriate at the time.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | “Crossover” (1994), “Through the Looking Glass” (1995), “Shattered Mirror” (1996), “Resurrection” (1997), and “The Emperor’s New Cloak” (1998)

Although The Next Generation occasionally paid homage to fan-favorite episodes from The Original Series — “The Naked Now,” for example, was a sequel to “The Naked Time,” in which an infection among the crew causes them to behave hilariously out-of-character — the show never attempted its own version of the Mirror Universe. At a 2017 Star Trek Las Vegas panel, producer Brannon Braga explained, “We were a little frightened at doing it, and doing it badly, and maybe never really figured out what The Next Generation take would have been on it.”

But Deep Space Nine , the red-headed stepchild of the Star Trek franchise (or, perhaps more accurately, the cool childless aunt who shows unexpectedly every six years and who you’ve always suspected might be in a long-term relationship with her “roommate”), was willing to take many more risks. Unlike The Next Generation , DS9 kept itself bound to one location, drawing on themes of war and interventionism that would have felt very familiar to globally minded citizens of the ‘90s. Honestly, if you replace the Cardassians with Russians, Bajor with Ukraine, and Starfleet with the United Nations trying to keep everybody in line, it wouldn’t be that hard to transplant entire episodes of the series into the real world of post-soviet politics.

Although DS9 didn’t let its characters sail away from problems as easily as the crew of the Enterprise could, it did let them pop over to the Mirror Universe basically any time they wanted, returning five different occasions over seven seasons. However, each excursion became progressively less unsettling and more ridiculous; by the last visit in “The Emperor’s New Cloak,” the Mirror Universe was used more for comic relief, in stark contrast to the densely serialized war narrative that encompassed the rest of DS9 ’s final season.

Which isn’t to say that there’s no interesting meat on the bones of this new mirror. For one thing, the Terrans of DS9 are no longer conquerors; having been conquered themselves when Spock’s habilitated empire was defeated by the equally brutal Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. As such, the Terran lack of empathy manifests not just as cruelty, but as complacence; instead of promoting peace, our heroes nudge their parallel counterparts towards rebellion, transforming them into freedom fighters that band together against a powerful regime (If this is all starting to sound familiar, remember that Star Wars came after the original Trek series and changed pop culture pretty significantly in its wake).

There is one notable exception, of course: Intendant Kira Nerys, who rules Terok Nor with an iron fist, a chaotic sexual hedonism, and loads of manipulative, fake empathy for the Terran slaves she considers to be beneath her. Basically, she’s what you’d get if you took recurring series baddie Gul Dukat and stuck him in Major Kira’s body, right down to the uncomfortable obsession with “good” Kira. A solidly obvious example of the Depraved Bisexual trope (1992’s Basic Instinct changed pop culture a lot, too), the Intendent may not have been Trek ’s first queer-coded villain, but she was certainly the most obvious. She was also, it should go without saying, unbelievably fun to watch, which is why she ended up in every single DS9 Mirror episode whether she was integral to the plot or not. Truly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer 's Vampire version of Willow owes a lot to Intendant Kira’s shining example.

Yet despite all the dystopian camp, these stories were just as invested in grief and trauma as the rest of DS9 ’s sprawling narrative, primarily in the form of interactions between its protagonists (the Siskos and Major Kira, more specifically) and mirrorverse doppelgangers of their dead loved ones (Sisko’s wife and Jake’s mother, Jennifer, and Kira’s lover, Vedek Bareil). Much of Deep Space Nine revolves around how difficult and confusing it is to process loss in the midst a violently changing status quo – what better way to represent that than with living ghosts who don’t act like “themselves” anymore?

Star Trek: Enterprise | “In A Mirror, Darkly” Parts 1 and 2 (2005)

If Deep Space Nine smoothed the Mirror Universe into a swashbuckling field trip, Enterprise brought it screaming back to its dark authoritarian roots (literally, in the case of Mirror Archer’s pitch-black crew cut). Although Enterprise is sometimes overlooked as a prequel series, it does a wonderful job of taking the familiar trappings of TOS and contextualizing them more deeply – and often, more interestingly. I could, in fact, spend the rest of this article writing about how deeply devoted I am to Enterprise ’s interpretation of the Andorians and how much I yearn for Discovery to follow in its badass baby-blue footsteps, but that’s not really relevant to the issue at hand.

What is relevant is how Enterprise breaks unexpected ground via a two-part story arc that takes place entirely in the Mirror Universe, without any Federation characters to serve as our audience surrogate. The intro opens on recycled Star Trek: First Contact footage of humanity’s fateful first encounter with Vulcans – and then not only devolves into chaos as the humans open fire, but then launches into a completely reimagined opening title sequence that juxtaposes ominous march music with war footage and Nazi airplanes. “Faith of the Heart,” this isn’t.

In some ways, the pre-Kirk Terran Empire confines itself to many of the parameters that TOS set for the Mirror Universe. There are bare midriffs again, made even more hellish this time around by the mid ‘00s trend of low rise pants (On a related note, you can’t convince me that Mirror T’Pol’s hair, with its center-parted bangs and pin-straight length, wasn’t a deliberate jab at the style choices of several contemporaneous pop stars). Hoshi Sato serves as the Captain’s Woman for two different male authority figures — that is, right up until she kills the last man standing in her way and declares herself Empress. Enterprise was definitely on a “women using sex for power” kick around that time; the previous episode in the season, “Bound,” reinvents the Orion Slave Girls as active partners in a conspiracy to ensnare the men of other species with their pheromones.

Hoshi’s ascension is just the twist ending, though. As is the case of pretty much every show on television during George W. Bush’s presidency, the true villain here is a torture-happy military rising to power on the backs of a marginalized population — this time the Vulcans and other non-Terrans. And Mirror Archer, too, is haunted; not by the dead, but by his own ambition, as an apparition in the form of his newly discovered double (Thanks to some dimension-hopping time shenanigans, post-Federation records from the original U.S.S Defiant end up in the Empire’s possession), egging him on with his far superior personal accomplishments like the Gallant to Mirror Archer’s Jingoistic Goofus.

By this time Enterprise had completely reoriented itself around a post 9/11 narrative, ending its second season with a terrorist attack against Earth and continuing with the Enterprise ’s efforts to reach the far-off civilization responsible for it. “In a Mirror, Darkly,” then, represents a stark examination of America’s more reprehensible actions during that time — and lands much better than previous Mirror Universe episodes as a result.

Star Trek: Discovery |“Despite Yourself,” “The Wolf Inside,” “Vaulting Ambition,” and “What’s Past Is Prologue” (2017-2018)

Since Discovery will return for a third season, there’s no telling how the Mirror Universe might continue to evolve in future episodes. So far, however, it succeeds at combining some of the best tropes of past Terran encounters: elaborate gold medals, super straight haircuts, Starfleet operatives pretending to be their own evil selves, Vulcan rebels with imposing beards, and twice the fun from the new Philippa Georgiou, who’s both an imposing female Emperor (Hoshi walked so she could run, y’all) and a returning dead character whose presence thoroughly freaks out our protagonist.

Best of all, the show hasn’t yet fallen back on over-the-top gender stereotypes or explicitly revealing costuming to get its villainy across — they eat poor defenseless Kelpiens instead. We do eventually learn from Mirror Georgiou that everybody in her world is pansexual, however, herself included (and let’s all admit to ourselves that some of us would have been a little disappointed if she weren’t).

Beyond all the clever nods to continuity, Discovery also returns to an important truth inherent to the Terran Empire: it is the end point to a slippery slope of bad decisions that our contemporary 2019 society could be making at this very moment.That’s why Captain Lorca is such a compelling villain in the first place. His ruthless methods seem understandable, maybe even relatable, in the face of overwhelming threats to the Starfleet way of life — that is, until we realize just how many lines our heroes have crossed along the way. Not to mention that the sight of a fearsome, fascist demagogue attempting to crush a minority resistance feels especially apt in today’s political climate.

“When we were in the Terran universe, I was reminded how much a person is shaped by their environment,” Ensign Tilly says after their escape, to drive the point home. “And I think the only way that we can stop ourselves from becoming them is to understand the darkness within us, and fight it.”

Unless something drastic changes in the timeline after the 24th century,the Mirror Universe is always going to function as an “evil” shadow of the one where Star Trek spends most of its time. But it’s also served as a cautionary tale for the show’s progressively minded fanbase — one that constantly needs to be reexamined in relation to our own surroundings. After all, if we don’t understand our own darkness, how else can we learn to combat it, pushing it down into submission in order to achieve that diverse, equal, post-scarcity future utopia we deserve?

Victoria McNally (she/her) is a writer in Brooklyn and has a lot of opinions about skants. Find her online at victoriamcnally.com or at @vqnerdballs on Twitter and Instagram.

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Star Trek timeline: Boldly go on a chronological journey through the Trek universe

From the Original Series to Discovery’s final season, here’s how the Star Trek timeline fits together

The Star Trek timeline now spans billions of years and it's growing all the time. And even though Star Trek: Discovery makes its final voyage on May 30, that expansion is set to continue with upcoming new seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks. This franchise has come a long way since Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry sent Kirk, Spock, and co. on their original five-year mission in the ’60s.

But with hundreds of hours of missions spread across 11 TV shows and 13 movies, knowing where to begin with the Star Trek timeline can be something of a challenge. With that in mind, we’ve assembled the key events that shaped Federation history into one massive chronology, featuring moments from The Original Series, The Next Generation, and its spin-offs, as well as all of the films and the TV shows of Trek's 2017 comeback – including Discovery and Star Trek: Picard .

We’ve even included the parallel "Kelvin" continuity of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie and its sequels, an alternative sequence of events kickstarted when a rogue Romulan ship from the future destroyed the USS Kelvin – killing James T. Kirk’s dad, George, and forever altering Kirk and Spock’s destinies.

That said, because the numerous spin-off Trek comics and novels aren’t traditionally considered part of the official Star Trek timeline, we’ve left them out. We’ve also steered clear of the long-running Mirror Universe (y'know, the one where evil Spock has a goatee), so there isn’t too much timey-wimey stuff going on that you’d have to be Data to understand it.

But before we engage the warp drive and explore the history of the future, here’s an at-a-glance guide to how the various movies and TV shows fit into the Star Trek timeline. And beware – spoilers ahead!

The Kelvin Star Trek timeline

Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Star Trek timeline

Around 4.5 billion years ago - A species later dubbed "the Progenitors" seed numerous planets with their DNA, influencing the evolution of humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Vulcans, Romulans, and others. This explains why so many Star Trek aliens can be played by actors in prosthetics. (The Chase, Star Trek: The Next Generation; Star Trek: Discovery season 5)

Around 200,000 years ago - An ancient alien species is wiped out by an uprising of synthetic beings. They leave eight stars in an implausible arrangement, the Conclave of Eight, to serve as a warning to future generations. (Star Trek: Picard season 1)

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1893 - The time-travelling crew of the USS Enterprise-D encounters The Adventures of Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain in San Francisco. (Time’s Arrow, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

1930 - Having been sent back to 20th century New York by a malevolent portal known as the Guardian of Forever, James T. Kirk is forced to allow peace campaigner Edith Keeler to die in order to save millions of lives in World War 2. (The City on the Edge of Forever, Star Trek: The Original Series)

1947 - Ferengi Quark, Rom, and Nog crash land in 20th century Roswell, New Mexico, and are captured by US authorities who (correctly, to be fair) think they’re aliens. (Little Green Men, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

1986 - Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the original Enterprise crew travel back in time to kidnap a pair of humpback whales who can save the future from an alien probe. (Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home)

1996 - Genetically enhanced tyrant Khan Noonien Singh and 84 of his followers escape the Eugenics Wars on Earth (remember those?), going into suspended animation on the SS Botany Bay. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

~2022/23 - Enterprise security officer La'an Noonien Singh arrives in 21st century Toronto alongside a parallel universe version of James T. Kirk. With a Romulan time traveller out to change history by preventing the Eugenics Wars (which haven't yet happened in this adjusted timeline), she rescues a young boy named Khan from the Noonien-Singh Institute for Cultural Advancement. (Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

2024 – Picard and La Sirena's crew arrive in the 21st century to fix the event that's created a dystopian alternative timeline. Along the way they meet a younger version of Guinan (who already owns her bar at 10 Forward Avenue) and an ancient ancestor of Data's creator – another of Brent Spiner's many Star Trek roles . (Star Trek: Picard season 2)

2063 - In the wake of World War 3, Zefram Cochrane makes Earth’s first successful warp flight, attracting the attention of some passing Vulcans who subsequently introduce Earth into the interstellar community – all while the crew of the Enterprise-E fight to stop the Borg assimilating the planet. (Star Trek: First Contact)

2151 - Suliban fighting in a Temporal Cold War shoot down Klingon warrior Klaang over Broken Bow, Oklahoma – bringing about humanity’s first contact with a Klingon. The prototype USS Enterprise (NX-01) sets off on a mission to return him to Qo’noS – against the wishes of the Vulcans and their massive superiority complex. (Broken Bow, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2153 - A group of Borg who survived the attempted invasion of Earth in 2063 are accidentally thawed by a research team in the Arctic. It doesn’t end well. (Regeneration, Star Trek: Enterprise)

An alien probe fires a massive energy beam at Earth’s surface, causing destruction across the American continent. The Enterprise is redeployed to the Delphic Expanse to fight back against the perpetrators, the Xindi. (The Expanse, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2164 - The USS Franklin, commanded by Captain Balthazar Edison, goes missing – that might just prove important later… (Star Trek Beyond)

2230 - Spock is born on Vulcan.

2233 - James T. Kirk is born. He's from Iowa – he only works in outer space.

2233 (Kelvin timeline) - First officer George Kirk (father of James T.) sacrifices himself to save his crewmates when the USS Kelvin is destroyed by time-travelling 24th century Romulan ship the Narada, kickstarting the so-called "Kelvin" timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

Every Star Trek Discovery Easter egg and hidden reference you might have missed

2230s (exact date unknown) - After her parents are killed in a Klingon attack, Michael Burnham is adopted by Sarek and Amanda Grayson on Vulcan. Her adoptive brother, Spock, has his first sighting of a “ Red Angel ”. (Will You Take My Hand?, Star Trek: Discovery)

2254 - The USS Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike, discovers the survivors of crashed survey ship SS Columbia on Talos IV – though it turns out they’re an illusion created by the telepathic Talosians. (Star Trek: The Cage)

2256 - The USS Shenzou’s first officer, Commander Michael Burnham, defies the orders of Captain Philippa Georgiou by attacking a Klingon vessel, and is charged with mutiny. The Federation/Klingon War begins at the Battle of the Binary Stars. (The Vulcan Hello/The Battle at the Binary Stars, Star Trek: Discovery)

2257 - The Federation/Klingon War ends, with the hydro bomb Section 31 plant at the heart of Qo’noS helping maintain peace between feuding Klingon houses. (Will You Take My Hand, Star Trek: Discovery)

With the Enterprise under repair, Christopher Pike assumes command of the Discovery on a mission to understand the so-called “Red Angels” – and track down his AWOL science officer, Spock. (Brother, Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 - In order to save all life in the universe from a rogue Federation AI known as Control, Michael Burnham uses the Red Angel time travel suit (created by her parents) to carry data collected by a millennia-old alien probe into the future. The USS Discovery and its crew follow her on a one-way trip through the wormhole. (Such Sweet Sorrow, Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 (Kelvin timeline) - The Narada reappears and destroys Vulcan, as an act of revenge on Spock. The Enterprise (commanded by Christopher Pike) engages the Romulan ship, but with Pike incapacitated, James T. Kirk eventually assumes command of the ship – and defeats the Narada. (Star Trek, 2009)

(Kelvin timeline) In the wake of Vulcan’s destruction, Admiral Alexander Marcus tries to increase Starfleet’s military capabilities – and subsequently discovers 20th century vessel the SS Botany Bay years earlier than in the Prime timeline. Khan Noonien Singh is revived and recruited by the Federation's shadowy spy branch, Section 31. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2259 – Commanded by Captain Christopher Pike, the USS Enterprise boldly goes where no one has gone before – aside from all the Star Trek crews who came before. Pike and his team also meet a pair of animated Starfleet officers from the future, spend an entire episode singing and dancing (Subspace Rhapsody), and survive several scary encounters with the reptilian Gorn. They also encounter the cocky young first officer of the USS Farragut – a guy who goes by the name of James T. Kirk. (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds seasons 1 and 2)

2259 (Kelvin timeline) - Going under the pseudonym John Harrison, Khan wages a one-man war on the Federation – all in the name of recovering his crew from suspended animation. The Enterprise crew eventually defeat him and put him back into stasis, but Kirk dies in the process. Luckily Dr. McCoy is able to use some of Khan’s blood to revive his captain – phew! (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2260 (Kelvin timeline) - The USS Enterprise begins its (other) famous five-year mission. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2263 (Kelvin timeline) - Three years into the five-year mission (with things starting to get boring), the Enterprise is destroyed by Krall’s swarm ships, marooning the crew on an alien planet. It turns out Krall was the captain of the aforementioned USS Franklin, who’s spent the last century using alien tech to keep himself alive – and developing a colossal grudge against the Federation. He’s eventually killed on new Federation starbase, the USS Yorktown. James T. Kirk and crew are assigned to a new ship, the Enterprise-A. The original Spock Prime – the one who travelled back in time – passes away on New Vulcan (Star Trek Beyond).

2266 - The USS Enterprise’s five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilisations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before, begins under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. (Star Trek: The Original Series)

2267 - After Spock mutinies, Christopher Pike (gravely injured by a radiation leak a year earlier) is taken to the off-limits Talos 4, where the illusions of the telepathic Talosians allow him to live an active life. (The Menagerie, Star Trek: The Original Series)

The Enterprise discovers SS Botany Bay, and awakens Khan Noonien Singh from suspended animation. After he tries to take over the ship, Khan and his crew are exiled to Ceti Alpha 5. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

Early 2270s (exact year unknown) - The refitted USS Enterprise (commanded once again by Admiral James T. Kirk) encounters V’Ger, a 20th century space probe (Voyager 6 under an alias) that has gained sentience and threatens to destroy planet Earth. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

2285 - While on a training mission, the USS Enterprise is critically damaged by Khan Noonien Singh, who has escaped exile on Ceti Alpha V and seeks revenge on Kirk. The Genesis planet is created by detonation of the top secret Genesis torpedo, and Spock dies after sacrificing himself to save the Enterprise. (Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan)

Kirk, McCoy, and the rest of the surviving Enterprise crew defy Starfleet orders to commandeer the ship for a mission to the Genesis planet to recover Spock’s body. After they unexpectedly encounter a hostile Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Kirk self-destructs the Enterprise – but Spock is resurrected. (Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock)

2286 - A mysterious space probe appears in Earth's orbit, attempting to make contact with now-extinct humpback whales. Kirk and co. pilot their commandeered Bird-of-Prey back to 20th century Earth to find some whales. Admiral Kirk is demoted to captain as punishment for his insurrection, and the USS Enterprise-A goes into active service. (Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home)

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2287 - The new Enterprise is commandeered by Spock’s half-brother, Sybok, who plans to meet God (yes, really) at the centre of the galaxy. The question “What does God need with a starship?” has never felt so pertinent. (Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier)

2290 - Hikaru Sulu assumes command of the USS Excelsior, breaking up the Enterprise “dream team” – it was probably about time, to be fair... (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country)

2293 - Praxis, the Klingon moon responsible for most of the empire’s power production, explodes. With Kirk and the classic crew due for retirement, they set off on one last mission to escort the Klingon ambassador to peace negotiations with the Federation – and end up having to foil a complex plot to scupper the whole thing. (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country)

Captain James T. Kirk is presumed dead when the Nexus energy ribbon has a close encounter with the newly launched Enterprise-B. Predictably, however, it’s not the end… (Star Trek: Generations)

2330s (exact year unknown) - Data is created by pioneering scientist Dr Noonian Soong. (Datalore, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2344 - The USS Enterprise-C answers a distress call from a Klingon outpost on Narendra III. Surrounded by Romulan Warbirds, it faces certain destruction until it disappears into a mysterious temporal rift… (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2356 - Future Seven of Nine Annika Hansen is assimilated by the Borg – along with her scientist parents – on their ship, The Raven. (The Raven, Star Trek: Voyager)

2364 - Commander William T. Riker joins the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, under the command of Jean-Luc Picard. Omnipotent being Q appears and puts humanity on trial. (Encounter At Farpoint, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2365 - Q shows up again, and transports the Enterprise to uncharted space for Starfleet’s first encounter with the Borg. (Q Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2366 - The Enterprise-C emerges from that aforementioned temporal rift and creates a new timeline where the Federation is at war with the Klingons. (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

The Borg show up in Federation space to start an invasion. Jean-Luc Picard is assimilated, becoming Locutus, and Starfleet is almost wiped out at the Battle of Wolf 359. (The Best of Both Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2368 - Now an ambassador, Spock turns up on Romulus trying to reunify the Vulcan and Romulan races. (Unification, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2369 - The Cardassians cease their occupation of Bajor and vacate their space station, Terok Nor. Starfleet moves in and renames it Deep Space Nine, with Benjamin Sisko taking command. It looks like it's going to be a relatively straightforward gig – until a wormhole opens to the Gamma Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. (Emissary, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2370 - Starfleet makes first contact with the Dominion, an alliance of races led by shapeshifting Founders from the Gamma Quadrant. (The Search, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2371 - It turns out James T. Kirk wasn’t dead after all – he was just living inside the Nexus energy ribbon, a place where all your dreams come true. When El-Aurian scientist Dr Tolian Soran threatens to destroy entire worlds to get back inside the Nexus, Jean-Luc Picard enlists Kirk’s help to stop him – which doesn’t end well for Kirk, who ends up dead for the final time. The Enterprise-D also crashes on the surface of Veridian III, though it won't be the last we see of the ship... (Star Trek: Generations)

USS Voyager (under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway) and a ship of Maquis freedom fighters are transported to the distant Delta Quadrant by an alien “caretaker”. The two crews become BFFs implausibly quickly – and for some reason, invite Neelix on board. (Caretaker, Star Trek: Voyager)

2373 - The Borg have another crack at invading Earth. Seemingly defeated, they launch a last ditch attempt to assimilate humanity in the past – so Jean-Luc Picard and crew take their shiny new Enterprise-E back in time to stop them. It's our first introduction to the Borg Queen, who does her best to seduce Data. She succeeds for approximately 0.68 seconds. "For an android," he says, "that is nearly an eternity." (Star Trek: First Contact)

Meanwhile, back in the Borg’s home territory of the Delta Quadrant, Voyager forms an unlikely alliance with the Collective to battle Species 8472 from “fluidic space”. Borg drone Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 (AKA, Seven of Nine) joins the Voyager crew. (Scorpion, Star Trek: Voyager)

The Dominion War kicks off between the Dominion (led by the Changelings) and the Federation. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2375 - The Dominion War ends. Benjamin Sisko, the Bajoran “emissary”, relocates to the wormhole to commune with its residents – aliens who have no sense of linear time. (What You Leave Behind, Deep Space Nine)

The Enterprise-E crew uncovers a shady Federation plot to relocate the near-immortal inhabitants of a paradise planet, in order to harness its youth-giving properties. It’s difficult to care about any of it. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

2378 - USS Voyager finally makes it back to Federation space, after a future version of Janeway uses a lethal pathogen to wipe out many of the Borg. Following seven years of exemplary service, Ensign Harry Kim is still an Ensign. (Endgame, Star Trek: Voyager)

2379 - Shinzon, a clone of Jean-Luc Picard, takes control of the Romulan senate – and his overtures towards peace with the Federation turn out to be a front for war. The Enterprise eventually stops him, but Data has to sacrifice himself to save the day. (Star Trek: Nemesis)

2380 - The USS Cerritos, under the command of Captain Carol Freeman, continues to specialise in “Second Contact” situations. (Star Trek: Lower Decks)

2381 - A pair of USS Cerritos crew members, Ensigns Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler, are transported back to Pike's Enterprise for some unashamed fan worship. (Those Old Scientists, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

2383 - A ragtag group of alien kids stumbles on the abandoned USS Protostar in the Delta Quadrant. Their guide? A holographic version of Kathryn Janeway. (Star Trek: Prodigy)

2385 - Members of the Romulan Zhat Vash experience the Admonition on the “grief world” of Aia, driving many to madness and suicide. Their leader, Commodore Oh, instigates the uprising of synthetic workers at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars, leaving 92,143 people dead and the planet burning. Facing heavy losses, Starfleet abandons its rescue mission to help rescue the residents of Romulus from an upcoming supernova. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard resigns in protest. (Star Trek: Picard season 1)

2387 - With a supernova threatening to destroy Romulus, Spock – still active after all these years, remarkably – attempts to save the planet by using “red matter” to create a black hole that will engulf the exploding star. He fails – and he, and Romulan ship the Narada, are sucked into the black hole and back in time, creating the new, parallel "Kelvin" timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

2390 - Starfleet vessel the Ibn Majid encounters a pair of synthetic lifeforms. Under orders from Commodore Oh, the captain executes the two androids before taking his own life. First Officer Chris Rios is so traumatised by the experience – expunged from Federation records – that he leaves Starfleet six months later. (Broken Pieces, Star Trek: Picard)

2399 - Having discovered that the late Data had a pair of ridiculously advanced twin daughters, the long-retired Jean-Luc Picard ventures back into space after years on the family vineyard. After some close encounters with rogue Romulans, militant AI, and a few Borg, Picard succumbs to his terminal Irumodic Syndrome – but is reborn in a new android body. (Star Trek: Picard season 1)

2400 - Now running Starfleet Academy, Picard once again finds himself back on a starship when a spatial anomaly appears, broadcasting his name in multiple languages. After ending up in a totalitarian alternative timeline – possibly with a bit of help from Q – he gathers up the crew of La Sirena to travel back to a pivotal event in 2024. A severely weakened Q later dies sending Picard and co back to their own time. Or does he...? (Star Trek: Picard season 2)

2401 - Jean-Luc Picard learns that he and long-term love interest Beverly Crusher have a son. They join forces with the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise-D (now resurrected by Geordi La Forge) to combat a new Changeling threat to the Federation. It later turns out that Jack is part-Borg, and that the Borg Queen (severely damaged by the pathogen in the Star Trek: Voyager finale) has been pulling the strings all along. (Star Trek: Picard season 3)

2402 - Jack Crusher, now an Ensign in Starfleet, is assigned to the USS Enterprise-G, commanded by Seven of Nine. Q – not so dead after all – appears in Jack's quarters, telling him that humanity's trial continues... (The Last Generation, Star Trek: Picard)

3069 - The so-called Burn causes the cataclysmic destruction of dilithium across the galaxy, massively curtailing warp travel across the Alpha Quadrant. (Star Trek: Discovery season 3)

The Federation is involved in a Temporal War that leads to a galaxy-wide ban on time travel. During this period, Temporal Agent Daniels travels back to 2151 to infiltrate Captain Archer's Enterprise, and overthrow a Suliban plot. (Star Trek: Enterprise; Star Trek: Discovery)

3188 - Michael Burnham emerges from the wormhole, and joins forces with courier Cleveland 'Book' Booker. (Star Trek: Discovery season 3)

3189 - Discovery arrives in the 32nd century and discovers a universe where the Federation has been decimated by the Burn, and the biggest power in the Alpha Quadrant is now the Emerald Chain criminal syndicate. With the spore drive now one of the most important resources in the galaxy, Captain Saru and crew work to discover the cause of the Burn – and restore the Federation to past glories. (Star Trek: Discovery season 3)

3190 - As numerous worlds sign up to rejoin the resurgent Federation, a mysterious Dark Matter Anomaly destroys Book's homeworld and threatens all life in the Alpha Quadrant. Now (somewhat belatedly) captaining the Discovery, Michael Burnham leads the Federation's defences. (Star Trek: Discovery season 4)

3191 - The Discovery sets off on an interstellar treasure hunt to find the Progenitor technology that kickstarted all humanoid evolution in the galaxy billions of years ago. There are other interested parties, however, and Starfleet ends up going head-to-head with the Breen, mysterious former allies of the Dominion. (Star Trek: Discovery season 5)

Far future - A man named Craft forms a close friendship with Zora, the AI controlling the long-abandoned USS Discovery. (Calypso, Short Trek)

All caught up? Great, now come and discover the best Star Trek episodes that every Trekkie should watch right now, or watch the video below for a complete guide to the Star Wars timeline – that other sci-fi galaxy far, far, away...

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy.

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Star Trek Timeline Explained

How does Star Trek: Discovery relate to the other Star Trek shows and movies? We unravel the history of the future to make it clear.

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This article comes from Den of Geek UK .

The Star Trek canon is a complicated place. Within the TV show and movies alone, there are prequels, sequels, time travel and alternate universes to keep track of – and not all of them happen in the right order. Star Trek Discovery is the latest continuity insert (and a fine one at that) – but how does it relate to everything else?

We begin our look at Star Trek’s timeline around 40 years into “our” future, at a point when the Earth is recovering from World War III…

2063 – Star Trek: First Contact (most of it)

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This movie – Star Trek 8 , if you’re keeping track – sees the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew take a jaunt back in time to the era of Zefram Cochrane: the man who invented warp drive technology. The flight of his ship, the Phoenix, attracts the attention of some passing Vulcans who make the titular first contact. It’s an important moment.

read more – 8 Amazing Things About Star Trek: First Contact

2151-2155 – Star Trek: Enterprise

A hundred years later, the crew of Starfleet’s first warp 5 vessel, the Enterprise (registration NX-01) seeks to establish humanity as a significant player in the galaxy, although poor relations between Vulcans and humans keep it from being a simple task. Significantly, the Enterprise is key to defeating the Xindi who attempt to attack and destroy Earth.

read more: The Importance of the Star Trek: Enterprise Characters

2161 – As detailed in the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT 4×22: “These Are The Voyages…”) the United Federation of Planets is formed from an alliance between four species: Humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites. The Enterprise NX-01 is also retired.

2165 – Sarek, Spock’s father, is born on Vulcan.

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2210 – Amanda Grayson, Spock’s mother, is born on Earth.

2230 – Spock is born. Amanda Grayson is 20 and Sarek is 65. Problematic tbh.

2233 – James T. Kirk is born. Just for context, in the divergent timeline of the reboot movies the Romulan terrorist Nero arrives from the future on the Narada, destroys the USS Kelvin and kills George Kirk. Everything after this point doesn’t apply to the reboot timeline, but… that’s a separate article.

2245 – The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is launched under the command of Robert M. April.

2254 – The USS Enterprise visits the planet Talos IV while under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. Spock is already serving aboard the vessel at this time. Although the Talosians attempt to capture the crew, they are able to escape. It’s all detailed in “The Menagerie” ( TOS 1×15-16).

2256- ongoing – Star Trek Discovery

Experimental starship Discovery (NCC-1013) fights in the first major Klingon-Federation war. Michael Burnham, Spock’s adopted sister, is part of the crew. Sarek also visits sometimes. At one point Discovery encounters the Enterprise of this era while investigating the red lights phenomena and is placed under temporary command of Captain Christopher Pike.

2265-2269 – Star Trek: The Original Series

Nine years after the events of Star Trek: Discovery , Kirk, Spock, Bones (and the rest) run a five year mission in deep space aboard the Enterprise, exploring the galaxy, establishing tropes, and talking numerous computers to death.

read more: The Most Important Star Trek Original Series Episodes

Notably, on one mission the Enterprise is able to restore a seriously-injured Christopher Pike to Talos IV so that he can live out his life in a psychically-created paradise preferable to reality. Lucky git.

2269-2270 – The Animated Adventures Of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek

Sometimes deemed non-canon but increasingly less so, this series takes place immediately following the live-action show and mostly features most of the original cast. (Don’t listen too carefully to the voices.)

There’s a comic book series where the animated crew meet the Transformers which is definitely not canon and absolutely nuts but therefore great.

2270s – Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Following an 18-month refit, the Enterprise encounters V’ger prompting Admiral Kirk to reassume command of the ship.

read more – The Troubled Production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

2285 – Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

Khan Noonien Singh, having escaped exile at the hands of Captain Kirk ( TOS 1×24: “Space Seed”), exacts revenge on the Enterprise using the Genesis device. The crew defeats Khan but Spock sacrifices his own life to save the Enterprise. Sad.

read more – The Difficult Journey of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Slightly later in 2285 – Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

The Enterprise returns to Earth for repairs before realising that Spock is still alive, having been reborn on the Genesis planet created in the previous film. The Klingons get involved and while attempting to rescue Spock, the Enterprise is destroyed. The crew hijacks a Klingon Bird of Prey and returns Spock to Vulcan and the care of Sarek.

read more – In Defense of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

2286 – Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The crew of the Enterprise return to Earth (sans Enterprise) just in time to find it under attack: an invincible alien probe is bombarding the planet with a destructive signal trying to communicate with whales, which humans have driven to extinction. After heading back in time to 1987 to grab a whale, the crew return to 2286 and are placed on board a new version of the Enterprise: the NCC-1701-A.

2287 – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Spock’s half-brother Sybok steals the Enterprise and tries to fly it into God. We wish we were making this up.

read more – Examining the Political Themes of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

2293 – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The wall comes down, IN SPACE. When the Russian Klingon power station Moon Chernobyl Praxis explodes, the notoriously insular empire begins discussion with its former enemies to achieve a friendly peace. Kirk and his crew save the peace process from a destabilisation plot by the Romulans. The Enterprise A is decommissioned.

read more – The Political Parallels of Star Trek VI: The Undisovered Country

2293 – Star Trek: Generations (some of it)

The Enterprise B (NCC-1701-B) is launched and Captain Kirk is thought to have died following an encounter with the mysterious energy ribbon known as The Nexus.

2344 – The Enterprise C (NCC-1701-C) is active under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett. You can learn more in TNG 3×15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” which is a great episode.

read more – Does Star Trek: Generations Deserve Another Chance?

2364-2370 – Star Trek: The Next Generation

The crew of the Enterprise D (NCC-1701-D) – Picard, Riker, Data (and the rest) travel around the galaxy encountering moral dilemmas which can usually be solved by reversing the polarity of something.

read more – The Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes

2368 – Sarek dies ( TNG 5×01 – “Unification”)

2369-2375: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Things get confusing as TV shows begin to overlap. Commander Sisko unleashes the dragon aboard the strategically-important space station, Deep Space Nine.

read more – The Best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Stories

2371: Star Trek Generations (the rest of it)

Picard et al rescue Kirk from the Nexus, proving that he didn’t die in 2293 after all. Although he later does in fact die. No backsies this time. Except in that one novel series. The Enterprise D is also turned into space-confetti.

2371-2378: Star Trek Voyager

Captain Kathryn Janeway gets the USS Voyager (registration unimportant) stranded in the Delta Quadrant and they spend 7 years trying to get home while stopping to check every molecule of every asteroid they so much as brush against. Harry Kim dies and is replaced by a replica created by a weird time thingy but no-one really talks about it.

read more – Why the Star Trek: Voyager Premiere is Worth a Rewatch

2373: Star Trek: First Contact (the rest of it)

Aboard the newly-commissioned Enterprise E (NCC-170-ah you get it by now) the Next Generation Crew follows a Borg ship back in time and prevents them from disrupting First Contact with the Vulcans. See the start of this article.

2375: Star Trek Insurrection

Nothing important happens in this one but it’s not as bad as people think.

2379: Star Trek Nemesis

Some important stuff DOES happen in this one because Data dies, but in this case it IS as bad as people think. Janeway shows up, promoted to Admiral, likely because she never wants to see the inside of a starship again.

read more – What Went Wrong With Star Trek: Nemesis?

2387: Star Trek (reboot)

Romulus is destroyed when a nearby star goes supernova. Spock is unable to stop it. A grieving Romulan named Nero travels back in time and creates the divergent JJ Abrams timeline which remains outside the scope of this article. However, the destruction of Romulus and the strange disappearance of Spock remain canon. Who knows what everyone else is up to?

Some time after 2387: Untitled Picard Series

The producers of the eagerly-awaited untitled Picard series have explained that the destruction of Romulus and dissolution of the Romulan empire will be a springboard for some of the events in this TV show, in which Picard has (likely) left Starfleet behind for good.

Sometimes around 3256: Short Treks’ “Calypso”

As someone pointed out in our comment section, one of Discovery’s latest Short Treks , “Calypso,” takes place roughly 1,000 years following the events of Discovery , catching up with the abandoned ship’s computer, Zora. This potentially concerning peak into the Federation’s future has yet to be addressed in Discovery .

This, broadly, is where established canon ends. Further glimpses in the future (such as the future timeline seen in TNG finale, “All Good Things) can only be considered potential futures.

Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments!

The Entire Star Trek Timeline Explained

Star Trek isn't just a popular media franchise — it's a philosophy of life. Back in the '60s, when Gene Roddenberry first set loose Kirk, Spock, and Uhura upon the world, the utopian vision he spearheaded was a breath of fresh air. On the bridge of the Enterprise , people of different races, backgrounds, and genders stood together, surrounded by advanced technology, and united in a shared mission. Star Trek wasn't intended to be an idealistic fairy tale, but rather, an illustration of humankind's potential.

Then ... decades went on, different creators got involved, and the story got complicated. While many casual fans would love to get more invested in Trek lore, it's hard to figure out where to start, much less which order to watch all the shows in. That said, just because something is messy doesn't mean it's not also amazing, and Star Trek is worth your effort. Here's a thorough guide through the Star Trek timeline.

Looking back at the past

Buckle up, because the complete Star Trek saga begins not in the distant future, but in the recent past. Why? Because time travel is a pain in the neck, that's why. As Trek tells it, some significant historical events of the 20th century may be the result of time-traveling shenanigans. The most notable interference occurs in the Deep Space Nine episode " Little Green Men ," which depicts a small group of Ferengi — those are the money-obsessed dudes with the big ears — accidentally getting slung back into Earth's past, in the year 1947, where they cause the infamous Roswell Incident . Oops.

To be fair, Starfleet officers usually try to be more careful about mucking up the past, as seen in the classic episode " Tomorrow is Yesterday ." Here, Kirk's Enterprise is hurled back to the year 1969 and sighted by the Air Force, who believe it's a UFO. Hey, that's not inaccurate. The crew spend the episode going to massive lengths to avoid any further damage to the timeline, like the good Samaritans they are, but at least one 20th-century fella walks away knowing that humankind will become crazy awesome in the future.

The 1990s are ... well, confusing

These days, while some die-hard Trekkers still hold firm to the idea that Star Trek takes place in "our future," it's increasingly hard to see the franchise as existing in anything other than an alternate timeline. Khan , as played by Ricardo Montalbán, presents a divergence that's especially hard to rectify. He's a warlord from a so-called "Eugenics War" that ravaged Earth in the 1990s, wherein genetically altered tyrants like him apparently waged brutal battles and enslaved entire populations. Khan, in particular, is said to have ruled over one-quarter of Earthlings.

Dolly the Sheep, Bill Clinton, the World Wide Web ... a lot of things happened in the '90s, but super-powered warlords weren't one of them. Sorry.

That said, Trek fans are notoriously stringent about their timeline, so later writers have gone to great lengths to ensure that the Eugenics Wars stays fixed in place. According to Memory Alpha , the outright war hinted at in the original series has been re-framed as a covert, secretive affair that was probably linked to real-life battles in the '90s. Hey, fair enough. That said, if you're thinking that everything starts getting clean, utopian, and Trek -like after the Eugenics War is kaput, think again.

The outbreak of World War III

Eventually, humans in the Star Trek universe learn to get along, ditch money, and be cool with everybody from every background. However, the process of getting here required a massive conflict to remind everyone just how much war sucks. That conflict, fittingly enough, is named World War III. If you though the past two World Wars were too long, well, Screen Rant says that the third edition dragged on (and on, and on) from 2026 until 2053, with countless nuclear bombs being dropped, major governments getting toppled, and other nightmarish happenings of the sort that John Titor once warned the internet about. Allegedly, eugenics played some role in these battles, too.

While World War III wouldn't be the last war in galactic history, it was the final one ever waged between Earthling factions, on Earth's surface, with no extraterrestrial involvement. After nearly three decades of gunfire, Earth's remaining powers met for a truce in San Francisco, and society finally got a chance to rebuild.

First contact in the Star Trek timeline

If your head is already spinning, don't worry. Things get a bit more "Star Trekky" from this point forward.

In a narrative sense, the true "launch date" of the Star Trek story begins in the year 2063 , as depicted in Star Trek: First Contact . At this time, the world is still ailing and poverty-stricken thanks to all that nuclear warfare, but humankind is inching toward the stars again. The leader of these efforts is the eccentric scientist Dr. Zefram Cochrane , who not only has the coolest name ever, but manages to invent Earth's first manned, warp-drive ship. Fittingly enough, considering all the BS that humanity just survived, he dubs his starcraft "the Phoenix."

Anyhow, when the Phoenix warps out into space, it's detected by the Vulcans. Those good, pointy-eared, logical folks decide that, thanks to this grand technological achievement, the time has finally come for humankind to publicly meet beings from another world. And so, the Vulcans zoom down to Earth, the Earthlings finally get over their whole "do aliens exist?" question, and the road to a brighter future is paved.

Vulcans steer humans toward utopia

Thankfully, Star Trek wasn't created by Tim Burton or Ed Wood, so the Vulcans turn out to be authentic buddies instead of carnivorous lizard creatures, space blobs, or what have you. Over the next century, according to Screen Rant , the Vulcans become humanity's trusted advisers into the stars, slowly training the Earthlings on how to be a more advanced species, and not just by sharing their cool gizmos, but by eliminating all of Earth's poverty, ditching money, healing all those nasty diseases, and easing worldwide tensions. Thanks to all this alien help, Earth eventually unites under a United Earth Government.

Now, by this point, it should be clear that even if Vulcans are a bit stiff, they make some seriously cool allies. That said, even after Vulcans spend a century just helping Earth out, not everyone is so hot on them. As explained by StarTrek.com, some people are resentful of the fact that Vulcans only very slowly tease out their various scientific advancements, instead of sharing it all in one go. You know, as if humanity didn't just spend 30 years blowing itself to smithereens.

The Enterprise is born

In the 2130s, according to Memory Alpha , the utopian city of San Francisco gives birth to Starfleet, a space organization that aims to, as famously proclaimed by Zefram Cochrane, "seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."

To make this dream a reality, Starfleet builds humanity's first Warp-5 vessel in 2151, the Enterprise NX-01. The world's first Enterprise is commanded by a dude named Dr. Sam Beckett ... er, sorry, Jonathan Archer, who leads a quirky crew of humans, a Vulcan, and even a Denobulan across the galaxy for the next handful of years, as depicted in the series Star Trek: Enterprise . Because dramatic tension requires big problems, Archer's crew eventually gets embroiled in a war against some animalistic aliens known as the Xindi . Unfortunately, this is followed just a few years later (off-screen) by a war against the Romulans. Remember that latter group, as they're the ones who seem like perpetually ticked-off Vulcans.

Once the dust settles on all this intergalactic warfare, the year 2161 sees the Earthlings, Vulcans, Andorians (the blue dudes), and the Tellarites do a big pow-wow back in San Francisco, where they form the United Federation of Planets. It's a cool organization, which the rest of Star Trek history pretty much centers on.

Enter Star Trek: Discovery

At this point, you arrive at the prequel series Star Trek: Discovery , which according to Den of Geek is set around the year 2255 — basically, about a decade before the original 1966 series. By this point, the Federation has been batting around for a century. Things are going swell, for the most part, other than the fact that everybody's now embroiled in a long-running Cold War with the Klingons. The series itself follows Michael Burnham, a human Vulcan specialist played by Sonequa Martin-Green, who serves aboard the science vessel the U.S.S. Discovery . Hence, the series name. Voila!

Now, the fact that a futuristic sci-fi show produced in 2017 is supposed to be a prequel to a series from the '60s presents some obvious challenges, particularly regarding the fact that any advanced tech in Discovery seems radically more advanced than the stuff in the original Gene Roddenberry series . How to explain it? Well, aside from the fact that the Discovery is a science vessel, Screen Rant points out that the series has gone to great lengths to establish that the 1966 show's dated aesthetics are due to the influence of Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike, an old-fashioned dude who prefers old-fashioned tech. While not spelled outright, it can be assumed that Pike — first introduced in the 1966 show's pilot, "The Cage" — probably passed down his dated preferences to Kirk.

Say hello to the original series

As should be clear by now, Star Trek has a lot of prequels. Finally, though, this brings the picture to the years 2265 to 2269 , where Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Bones, Uhura, Scotty, and the rest get up to the famous shenanigans depicted in the original Star Trek TV series. From here, you know the drill. We've got a five year mission, Klingon tension, a bunch of fluffy Tribbles, and battles against dinosaur-looking aliens. The Roddenberry era is, and will forever be, the heart of all things Star Trek . By this point, the human race has evolved way beyond all the quarrels that were still going on in the Enterprise era, but they still aren't quite at Next Generation -level perfection.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture , then, takes place about a decade later, in the 2270s , and depicts the now-Admiral Kirk bringing the band back together on a retrofitted Enterprise to do, well, pretty much the same things they did ten years ago. Hey, worked the first time, right? The following Star Trek movies (up until the Next Generation team takes over) all take place within the same general time frame.

Picard makes it so

Okay, so once the original crew finishes their fun, a long, long time passes between the original Star Trek movies and Star Trek: The Next Generation . The latter series takes place almost a century later in 2364, according to Digital Spy , and features a Charles Xavier-looking mofo named Captain Jean-Luc Picard taking over the U.S.S. Enterprise -D on yet another mission of exploration. By this point, the Federation is so cool with the Klingons that they even have one serving as Picard's Lieutenant (hey, Worf!), and technology has advanced to the point of producing holodecks, badge communicators, Geordi's VISOR, and so on.

Now, Captain Picard might not be as psychic as you think he is, but he's a levelheaded leader, and probably the person you most want commanding your ship if you ever encounter, say, a species of freaky cyborg aliens who fly through space in giant cubes. Speaking of those guys, they're called the Borg. Much of Next Generation deals with them nearly exterminating the Federation, trying to assimilate humanity into their ranks, and generally being the biggest threat in space history.

Meanwhile, other events are afoot ...

Deep Space Nine, reporting for duty

The approximate time period that Next Generation takes place in is accompanied by two other Star Trek shows, both of which happen in wildly different sectors of outer space. The first of these is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , which Digital Spy charts as beginning in 2369. This cult favorite series depicts the liberation of the planet Bajor from a 50 year occupation by the militaristic, snakelike Cardassians . Once Bajor is free, the Federation moves into nearby space station Terok Nor, rechristens it Deep Space Nine (DS9), and installs Earthling Commander Benjamin Sisko to keep the peace, tamper down all the conflicts, and guide Bajorans into joining the Federation. Instead, he accidentally discovers a wormhole, talks to celestial beings known as the Prophets, and ends up being hailed by Bajorans as a religious figure named "the Emissary." Hey, life takes you in unexpected directions.

However, Sisko's heartfelt, off-the-cuff leadership style ends up being a perfect fit for DS9, particularly when the aliens on the other side of the wormhole — shape-shifting "Founders" who rule over an empire called the Dominion — get embroiled into warfare with the Federation. Yes, another war. And yes, the Federation wins, largely thanks to Sisko, though his fate ends up being rather ... well, it'll leave a tear in your eye, that's for sure. Watch and see.

Voyaging (and getting lost) in the Star Trek universe

Around this same decade, you have Star Trek: Voyager , set in 2371. This show depicts the adventures of black coffee-loving Captain Kathryn Janeway, whose U.S.S. Voyager goes on a regular cruise through the stars, only to accidentally get warped all the way to the Delta Quadrant, a region of space that's at least 75 years from Earth . Take that, Will Robinson! This puts them in a weird situation where they have no communication with the Federation, no familiarity with most of the aliens they encounter, have to team up with groups they might've normally been wary about, and worst of all, they find those Borg creeps at their throats again. Uh-oh.

As Vulture points out, another key character in Voyager is Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan. She's a Borg who slowly rediscovers her humanity as a member of Janeway's crew. As for the show's final episode, it pits Captain Janeway against the Borg Queen .

What's the deal with this whole 'Kelvin' timeline thing?

If you've been racking your brain, trying to figure out where those newfangled Kirk-led Star Trek movies of the 2010s come in ... well, here's your lucky ticket: They belong to an alternate universe dubbed the "Kelvin" timeline.

In 2387 of the original "Prime" timeline, as explained by Fandom , a few decades after Next Generation ends, the whole galaxy is menaced by a deadly supernova. Sadly, the catastrophe's opening trick is to destroy the planet Romulus and everyone on it. Flying to the rescue comes an elderly Spock, who attacks the supernova with a mysterious entity called "Red Matter," and while this fixes the problem, it can't bring back Romulus. To make a bad situation worse, a Romulan miner named Nero blames Spock for the whole disaster. Nero crashes both his and Spock's ship into a black hole caused by the Red Matter, sending them back to the year 2233.

And that's where Nero, along with his ship full of angry Romulans, attacks a Federation vessel called the U.S.S. Kelvin . The ship goes down, killing first officer George Kirk on the day of his son's birth. This not only leaves future Captain James Kirk to grow up without a father, but it also creates an alternate universe (Kelvin) which spins in a different direction, while the original timeline (Prime) remains unaltered.

Picard returns

Now, until recently, this was the last word on the 2300s. The fate of any characters in Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and Voyager beyond their end of their respective shows was left mysterious.

Then along came Marvel's Logan , and the powers-that-be realized how much audiences love to cry at the sight of their favorite characters struggling against old age, and thus, Star Trek: Picard was greenlit. This 2020 sequel series depicts an elderly Jean-Luc Picard in the year 2399 , on the cusp of the long-awaited 25th century, dealing with the fallout from the aforementioned destruction of Romulus. After nearly two decades of every Star Trek release being either a prequel or a reboot, while never diving further into the future, it seems only fitting that Roddenberry's vision of utopia will finally move to the next level — and that Admiral Picard will be the one to make it so.

The future of Star Trek?

The Star Trek timeline encompasses about 400 years of stories. It's so epic that it makes Lord of the Rings look tame in comparison. Still, one can't help but ponder, could this idealized version of humanity survive for oh, say, another 600 years?

As it happens, Star Trek has played with the notion of pushing into the 3000s for a long time. For example, Slashfilm reported that back in 2005, X-Men director Bryan Singer tried to spearhead a series titled Star Trek: Federation , which would've featured a decadent, Roman Empire-esque Federation in the year 3000. This show never got off the ground, but the canon version of the 31st century has been glimpsed at in Enterprise . According to Memory Alpha , this involved the whacked-out "Temporal Cold War," wherein different alliances tried to mess with historical events to suit their own means. Yikes, as if this stuff isn't confusing enough? Meanwhile, according to The Hollywood Reporter , the third season of Discovery also takes place in the 3000s, so this distant future may soon become a key part of Trek lore.

For now, though, that's the gist of it. Beam 'em up, Scotty.

Star Trek: The Original Series Timeline Explained

The timeline of "Star Trek" is a long and complicated one. It's been more than half a century since the first episode aired, and that was merely the first of ten TV series and counting, not to mention ten movies in the original continuity and three in a rebooted timeline. Within the "Star Trek" universe, the timeline is far longer than that, stretching from our own time (or long before if we start getting into ancient Vulcan history) to the 32nd century, where the later seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery" are set.

So for this recap, we'll limit ourselves to the in-universe timeline first "Star Trek" series that began airing in 1966, which most people now refer to by the retronym "Star Trek: The Original Series." What circumstances led to the events of that series, what were the major incidents during it, and what became of its ship and characters after it ended? Let's take a journey through it, piece by piece and year by year.

Long, long ago

The path that leads to Star Trek begins in 2063, when the eccentric scientist known as Zefram Cochrane creates Earth's first warp drive and proves that faster-than-light travel is possible. This is a major turning point for the human race, which was rebuilding from a long and bloody World War 3. There is still a long way to go, but Cochrane's invention marks a shift that leads to humanity not just getting back on its feet on Earth, but stepping out into the larger galaxy.

A nearby Vulcan ship detects the warp signature from Cochrane's test flight. The Vulcans figure that if Earth's people are now capable of traveling faster than light, it is time for them to meet people from other worlds. So the Vulcans land on Earth and introduce themselves to Cochrane and his contemporaries.

In time, Earth builds a variety of spacefaring ships utilizing Cochrane's warp technology, which comes in handy a century later when Earth and Vulcan join two other worlds, Tellar Prime and Andoria, in forming the United Federation of Planets . As interstellar diplomatic relations prove largely successful, the Federation expands to include more than 150 planets. Starfleet, which had already been formed on Earth to explore space and make contact with new worlds, is folded into the Federation upon its creation in 2161.

Not so long ago

The Constitution-class Starfleet ship commissioned as the USS Enterprise , bearing the registry number NCC-1701, is first launched in the mid-23rd Century, almost a hundred years after the formation of the Federation. Its first Captain is Robert April. From the very beginning, the Enterprise's primary mission is to explore the Galactic Frontier, seeking out previously undiscovered worlds and making contact where appropriate.

When April is promoted to commodore and steps down from command of the USS Enterprise, First Officer Christopher Pike is promoted to replace him. As captain of the Enterprise, Pike becomes one of the most decorated officers in Starfleet. During this time, Spock joins the crew as a science officer. This Enterprise crew visits the planet Talos, where Pike is briefly held captive by the highly evolved psychic beings who dwell there and has a brief romance with a woman named Vina (depicted in the original "Star Trek" pilot, "The Cage" ).

Later, Pike and the Enterprise come to the aid of the USS Discovery, whose crew includes Spock's adopted human sister, Michael Burnham (revealed in "Star Trek: Discovery" Season 2). The Enterprise plays a role in helping the Discovery and its crew travel to the far future (in the "Discovery" Season 2 finale, "Such Sweet Sorrow" ).

The five year mission begins

In 2265, Christopher Pike is promoted and Captain James T. Kirk is given command of the USS Enterprise. Commander Spock remains a science officer but also became Kirk's first officer. Chief engineer and second officer is Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott, affectionately known as Scotty. One of Kirk's oldest friends, Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, initially serves as helmsman at Kirk's request.

One of this crew's first missions sends them to the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, where an encounter with a mysterious energy barrier imbues Mitchell with godlike psychic powers. Elizabeth Dehner, a doctor serving under Enterprise Chief Medical Officer Mark Piper, is also affected and later developed similar powers. Mitchell is driven insane by the experience and becomes a threat to the Enterprise and even the galaxy. Doctor Dehner sacrifices her life to stop him, and both perish. Captain Kirk keeps the circumstances of their deaths private, wanting Mitchell to be remembered positively. This all happens in the second "Star Trek" pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

Following this incident, Lt. Hikaru Sulu, who has been working in the science divison, becomes helmsman of the Enterprise. With Dehner's death and Piper's retirement, Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy became the chief medical officer. Around the same time, Lt. Nyota Uhura joins the bridge crew as a communications officer. With this crew in place, the Enterprise sets out on the five-year exploratory mission that is the focus of "Star Trek: The Original Series."

Although the time period is vague on the show, the original "Star Trek" is set three hundred years after it originally aired, so the first year of their mission, as depicted in Season 1 , runs from 2266 to 2267. During that year, the USS Enterprise has a run-in with the Romulans ( "Balance of Terror" ), who haven't been seen since their war with Earth a century earlier. They also deal with the fall-out of failed negotiations with the Klingons ( "Errand of Mercy" ). Captain Kirk fights a Gorn captain ( "Arena" ) and deals with the death of his brother, Sam Kirk ( "Operation — Annihilate!" ). The Enterprise crew also has their first encounter with the notorious con artist and pimp Harry Mudd ( "Mudd's Women" ).

Admiral Christopher Pike briefly returns to the Enterprise after an accident leaves him paralyzed and nonverbal. After a fiercely loyal Spock helps Captain Kirk understand the situation, they take Pike to Talos, where the Talosians can help him live out his life free of physical constraints, and where he is reunited with Vina ( "The Menagerie" ).

Perhaps most significantly, the USS Enterprise encounters a drifting derelict ship, the USS Botany Bay, which houses cryogenically frozen war criminals from the Eugenics Wars of the past. Their leader, Khan Noonien Singh, is revived and attempts to take control of the Enterprise. Kirk defeats Khan, leaving him and his allies marooned on the planet Ceti Alpha V. Starfleet historian Marla McGivers, who had fallen in love with Khan and betrayed the Enterprise for him, chose to join him in exile rather than stay on the ship and face court martial ( "Space Seed" ).

As the mission entered its second year in 2267 (corresponding with the fall 1967 debut of Season 2 ), the bridge crew of the USS Enterprise is joined by Ensign Pavel Chekov, a young man from Russia. He and Sulu become close friends, and in time he becomes a vital member of the ship's inner circle.

The Enterprise soon travels to Spock's home planet of Vulcan for his marriage to his betrothed, T'Pring. However, T'Pring had already chosen another lover in Spock's absence, and the visit became a fiasco in which Spock and Kirk are made to engage in ritual battle until Kirk fakes his own death. Freed from his betrothal, Spock returns to the ship a confirmed bachelor ( "Amok Time" ).

Later that year, the Enterprise crew is involved in an incident on Deep Space Station K-7 involving a poisoned shipment of grain, a Klingon spy, and the rapidly reproducing trilling fuzzballs known as tribbles, which are peddled by the shady Cyrano Jones ( "The Trouble with Tribbles" ). Although they didn't know it, they are also visited at this time by time travelers from the 24th Century, who infiltrate the Enterprise crew to avert an attempt to change history by the future version of the same Klingon spy (as seen in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" ).

Other incidents in year two included the return of Harry Mudd ( "I, Mudd" ), the discovery of a Mirror Universe ( "Mirror, Mirror" ), and a visit from Spock's parents ( "Journey to Babel" ).

The third year of the mission (and the 1968 TV season) kicks off with a bizarre incident in which an alien civilization steals Spock's brain from his body. Even weirder, Spock survives the incident long enough for his brain to be returned to his skull before he suffers any permanent effects ( "Spock's Brain" ). Spock's brain was also affected by an encounter with a Medusan ambassador, a member of a non-humanoid race whose appearance drives any humanoid who sees one mad. Fortunately, Spock is also able to recover from this incident ( "Is There in Truth No Beauty" ).

Another non-humanoid alien race, the Tholians, traps the Enterprise in an energy web for trespassing into their space. Spock is in command at the time and is unwilling to move the ship because Captain Kirk has shifted out of phase with the universe after an incident involving the USS Defiant, and they need to remain in the area to get him back safely ( "The Tholian Web" ).

The Enterprise command crew also takes part in an undercover mission aboard a Romulan ship, where Kirk is able to steal a Romulan cloaking device while Spock romances a female captain ( "The Enterprise Incident" ). As the third year draws to a close, the crew has a series of increasingly bizarre adventures. These include an encounter with Abraham Lincoln ( "The Savage Curtain" ), finding themselves trapped in the past of a doomed planet ( "All Our Yesterdays" ), and Kirk temporarily swapping bodies with a nefarious woman ( "The Turnabout Intruder" ).

The mission continues

Since "Star Trek: The Original Series" only ran for three seasons, it fell to other media to tell the stories of the last leg of the USS Enterprise's five-year mission. Countless comic books and novels have been published that recount other adventures of Captain Kirk and his crew. While they're not really considered part of the official canon of Star Trek continuity, they've still provided ample entertainment for fans nostalgic for the show, and some of the best ideas that originated in them have found their way into more widely-seen media.

In 1973, the USS Enterprise returned to TV screens on "Star Trek: The Animated Series." Whether this series counts as official canon has been the subject of much debate, but so much of it has been referenced in later TV and movies (including the second animated series in the franchise, "Star Trek: Lower Decks" ) that it seems safe to count. However, certain things, such as life support belts (a force field-based method of saving money by not redrawing the characters in space suits), have to be glossed over.

During the leg of the mission depicted on the animated series, Ensign Chekov is replaced by Lieutenant Arex, an orange alien with three arms and three legs. Lieutenant Uhura is sometimes replaced at the communications station by Lieutenant M'Ress, a catlike female alien.

On one memorable adventure, Spock goes back in time to his childhood on Vulcan ( "Yesteryear" ). Harry Mudd also returns to cause more trouble ( "Mudd's Passion" ), as do Cyrano Jones and his tribbles ( "More Tribbles, More Troubles" ).

The crew reunited

Fans pick back up with the crew after the end of the five-year mission in the first of the "Star Trek" feature films, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." Jim Kirk has been promoted to Admiral and becomes Chief of Starfleet Operations, which is based at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. Spock returns to Vulcan and begins training to purge himself of emotions and further devote himself to logic. Doctor McCoy leaves Starfleet to practice medicine on Earth. Three years later, in 2273, the USS Enterprise is being completely refitted under the supervision of Scotty and the ship's new captain, Willard Decker.

When a massive, destructive anomaly was discovered heading for Earth, Admiral Kirk assumes command of the Enterprise on a mission to intercept it, to the annoyance of Decker, who is temporarily demoted to first officer. At Kirk's request, McCoy's Starfleet commission is reactivated, bringing him back to the Enterprise as well. After the new science officer is killed in a transporter accident, Spock soon rejoins the crew as well.

After the anomaly is revealed to be an ancient probe from Earth, Captain Decker joins with it so that it can fulfill its purpose of reuniting with its creator. Decker and the anomaly vanish, leaving Kirk in sole command of the USS Enterprise.

The death of Spock

In 2285, the Enterprise is on what is meant to be a short training voyage, but that changes when Khan Noonien Singh reappears, looking for Admiral Kirk. The planet where Kirk left Khan and his people more than fifteen years earlier has become a harsh desert after a catastrophic shift in orbit, and Marla McGivers, who had become Khan's wife, was killed. Khan and his remaining followers escape by commandeering the USS Reliant, but Khan can't be satisfied until he takes personal revenge on Kirk. Kirk barely manages to defeat Khan, but the Enterprise sustains heavy damage. Captain Spock saves the rest of the crew by manually repairing the ship's main reactor but receives a lethal dose of radiation in the process. Spock reassures Kirk that he would always be his friend, and then dies ( "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" ).

During his funeral service, Spock's body is launched from the Enterprise and falls to the surface of a planet that is in the process of being radically terraformed by the experimental Genesis Device. This creates a unique opportunity to restore Spock to life. Before he died, Spock infused Dr. McCoy with his psychic essence, which is soon found to have a deleterious effect on the doctor's mental state, which can only be cured by returning it to the correct body.

The return to Earth

To reunite Spock's psychic essence with his body that is regenerating on the Genesis Planet, Kirk and his loyal crew (McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov) must defy Starfleet orders and steal the USS Enterprise from spacedock. In the course of rescuing Spock, the Enterprise has a deadly encounter with Klingons that results in the destruction of the Enterprise ( "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" ). Escaping in a commandeered Klingon Bird of Prey, the crew travels to Vulcan, where Spock can heal. They stay there for three months, until early 2286.

As the crew travels back toward Earth on the Bird of Prey, facing court-martial for their actions, a mysterious alien probe is discovered heading toward Earth, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. When Spock realizes that the probe is attempting to contact humpback whales, an extinct species in the 23rd Century, the crew traveled back in time to 1986 and returns with a mated pair of whales, saving Earth from the probe. With their heroism taken into account, the charges are dropped at their court-martial. However, Kirk is demoted back to Captain for disobeying Starfleet orders and given command of the newly commissioned Enterprise NCC-1701-A ( "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" ).

The later years

In 2287, the new Enterprise and its crew are sent to deal with a diplomatic crisis when Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ambassadors on Nimbus III are taken hostage by a renegade Vulcan. The Vulcan, Sybok, is Spock's half-brother, who rejected Vulcan logic in favor of emotion and was exiled. He recruits a cult-like army by using his psychic abilities to help people conquer painful memories, inspiring gratitude and loyalty. Sybok, along with his followers, hijacks the Enterprise and travels to a mysterious planetoid in the center of the galaxy, where he believes he will find God. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy join Sybok on the planetoid, where they meet an entity claiming to be God, which turns out to be an incredibly powerful malevolent being who has been imprisoned there. Sybok is killed, and the entity is destroyed ( "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" ).

In 2293, three months before the aging Enterprise crew is scheduled to stand down, they embark on a diplomatic mission to accompany the Klingon chancellor to Earth for peace negotiations. En route, the chancellor is assassinated, while Kirk and McCoy are framed for his death. After being tried by the Klingons, they are sentenced to a prison planet, leaving Spock to root out a conspiracy to escalate hostilities between the two civilizations. Ultimately, peace is established, Kirk and McCoy are freed, and the Enterprise crew is free to move on to the next phase of their lives ( "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" ).

A series of epilogues

Later in 2293, Kirk, Chekov, and Scotty are present as guests on the maiden voyage of the new Enterprise NCC-1701-B, where an incident involving a time nexus leads to James Kirk's disappearance. In 2371 he is discovered alive inside the nexus by Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Enterprise NCC 1701-D, but Kirk dies helping Picard thwart the villainous Soran ( "Star Trek Generations" ).

After retiring from Starfleet, Spock becomes an ambassador. He is instrumental in achieving peace with the Romulans. He also encounters Captain Picard and his crew during a crucial part of that effort (in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" two-parter "Unification" ). At the end of his life, Ambassador Spock travels back in time, finding himself in an alternate timeline alongside a younger version of himself and his friends, who led very different lives ("Star Trek" 2009).

Doctor Leonard McCoy, who has always been grumpy about being in Starfleet, ironically has the longest Starfleet career of the three. He becomes a branch admiral and Chief of Starfleet Medical. In 2371, as a very old man, Admiral McCoy tours the Enterprise-D during its first mission (in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" premiere "Encounter at Farpoint" ).

In 2294, newly retired Captain Montgomery Scott is a passenger aboard the USS Jenolan when the ship crashes into a Dyson Sphere. Scotty manages to put himself into suspended animation using the Jenolan's transporter and is revived in 2369 by the crew of the Enterprise-D. After some time aboard the new Enterprise, he sets out aboard a shuttlecraft to enjoy his retirement ("Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Relics" ).

Hikaru Sulu becomes captain of the USS Excelsior and has his own illustrious career. Serving under him is a young Vulcan named Tuvok, who later becomes the chief tactical officer of the USS Voyager under Captain Kathryn Janeway (Tuvok remembers this time in the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Flashback" ).

Less is known about the post-Enterprise-A careers of Pavel Chekov and Nyota Uhura. Still, even if they retired to live quiet lives, they must have been remembered as Federation heroes for their many adventures serving under Captain Kirk. Even all these years, there are still many stories left to be told.

Star Trek: Discovery Just Dropped a Sneaky Timeline Easter Egg

Let's talk about 2371.

Tig Notaro as Jett Reno in 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5.

What was the most action-packed year in Star Trek’s future history? Thanks to some deep-cut Easter eggs in the latest episode of Discovery , the answer might surprise you. As Discovery approaches the end of its fifth and final season, the show continues to expand our knowledge of the Breen, while also sending its eponymous starship on a zig-zag quest around the galaxy to solve a puzzle that explains the very nature of life itself .

Along the way, Discovery is retreading a bit of Star Trek history the crew skipped over thanks to their time-traveling shenanigans at the end of Season 2. Now, in the episode “Erigah,” Discovery has reminded us that several major Star Trek events all happened in the same year. For us, it was 1994, but in Star Trek it was 2371. Spoilers ahead.

Why the 24th century matters

The USS Voyager in the Badlands in 2371.

Although Discovery, which is now in the year 3191, exists well beyond all the other Trek shows and films, it still has several ties to the franchise’s past. From Season 3 onward, Disco’s retro-Trek connections mostly stem from the fact the majority of the regular characters are from 2258, just before The Original Series, before they jumped forward in time. But now, because the ship is on a quest to find the Progenitor tech uncovered in the 24th century by Jean-Luc Picard, many of Discovery’s Easter eggs are tied to that golden era of Trek.

The 24th century is the most robust spot on the Trek timeline, simply because three classic shows took place between 2364 and 2379: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager . When you add in four feature films, and the recent series Lower Decks and Prodigy, it’s easy to see why the 24th century is such a big part of Star Trek. But why is 2371 so pivotal? Discovery just revealed the answer through two seemingly unrelated Easter eggs.

2371, the year that everything happened

The crash-landed saucer of the USS Enterprise

23171 was a busy stretch.

In “Erigah,” the Discovery crew learns the next clue on their list is an antique Betazoid book called Labyrinths of the Mind , written in 2371. By the end of the episode, with the help of Jett Reno (Tig Notaro), they also learn this book is in a mobile library called “The Eternal Gallery and Archive,” currently situated in a part of space called the Badlands. At the same time, Dr. Culber is researching medicine during the Federation’s struggle against the Dominion. Guess what this all has in common? Events in 2371.

As revealed in the Deep Space Nine Season 3 finale, “The Adversary,” 2371 was the year the Federation learned the Changelings had come to the Alpha Quadrant and could shapeshift into anyone and anything. This was also the year when Thomas Riker, Will’s naughty transporter duplicate, stole the USS Defiant to help the Maquis fight the Cardassians. The first place Thomas took the Defiant ? Yep, the Badlands, where Discovery is now headed.

For Voyager fans, the Badlands is the rough and tumble area of space that flung Voyager halfway across the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant. Yes, Voyager also launched in 2371. And while DS9 was dealing with shapeshifters and a Riker doppelgänger, and Voyager was trying to figure out how to get home, the beloved USS Enterprise-D was forced to separate its saucer section and crashland on the planet Veridian III. While Will Riker (the good one) is crashing the Enterprise in Star Trek Generations , Picard is fighting a mad scientist named Dr. Soran and dealing with a time-traveling Captain James T. Kirk. All in the year-of-our-Q, 2371.

In our universe, all these events played out between May 1994 and January 1995. Star Trek was packing in as many events as possible, and impressively, fans were able to follow all the twists and turns in the canon. Discovery may not have meant to make a connection between a fictional book, the Badlands, and the most important year in 24th-century history, but when you look at all the stuff that happened back then, it was, as William Shatner might say , a very, very good year.

Star Trek: Discovery streams on Paramount+.

Phasers on Stun!: How the Making — and Remaking — of Star Trek Changed the World

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Star Trek Characters Who Look Completely Different In Real Life

W hen the crew of the starship Enterprise first embarked on their twenty-year mission, the goal was to "seek out new life and new civilizations." As it turns out, most of the planets in most of the galaxies across the universe are inhabited by beings that look remarkably similar to Earth's humans. Apparently evolution ends up happening in almost the exact same way on any planet that can support life.

But in all seriousness, the fact that the different alien races in the "Star Trek" universe either look indistinguishable from humans -- or like a human but with an unusual skin color or some slightly exaggerated facial feature -- likely originally stemmed from it being a network TV show from the 1960s and not having the makeup or VFX budget for much else, which for a time was one of the worst things about the franchise .

Luckily, as time has gone on, new alien races have been introduced, with some actually getting much further from humans visually. Some even require the use of extensive prosthetics or special effects, making the characters look very different than the actors portraying them. Here are some of the more extreme examples of that, mostly sticking to either fairly significant characters or more well-known actors.

Read more: The Ending Of Interstellar Explained

Marc Alaimo As Dukat

Often making lists of not only the best "Star Trek" villains but also of fan-favorite "Star Trek" characters in general, Gul Dukat is the franchise's most prominent member of the Cardassian race. Though the Cardassians made their debut on an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Dukat was a recurring character on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" where he took turns being both friend and foe to Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks).

Dukat was portrayed by actor Marc Alaimo, who not only looks different in real life but helped to originate the Caradassians as a whole. This is because Alaimo had also played another Caradassian, Macet, in the species' first appearance on "The Next Generation." Additionally, he played four other non-Cardassian characters across the run of "The Next Generation." Among his more noteworthy roles in which he doesn't appear under intricate prosthetics that completely transform his face are Mars Security Force Captain Everett in the original "Total Recall," and eight episodes as Gene Scapizzi on the 1980s police procedural "Hill Street Blues."

Alaimo told a crowd at a 2015 convention that, while he wasn't officially retired from acting, he was no longer actively seeking roles (though the official "Star Trek" X account tweeted that he was retired back in 2013). His most recent screen credit is a 2010 episode of "Family Guy."

Doug Jones As Saru

When prequel series "Star Trek: Discovery" debuted on streaming service CBS All Access -- which would eventually evolve into Paramount+ -- in 2017, it served as the launching point for one of the most active periods in "Star Trek" history. Since then, there have been two more live-action series as well as two animated ones, plus a slew of new characters that have been added to the "Star Trek" universe debuting in those shows.

Among those debuts is Saru, who also introduced the entire Kelpien race to the "Star Trek" franchise. A first officer of the titular starship who also serves as captain for a time, Saru is played by Doug Jones -- an actor who has built his entire career out of completely disappearing behind makeup and prosthetics. Even if you wouldn't recognize Jones if he passed you on the street out of costume, you're most certainly familiar with his work.

His breakout role was as wisecracking zombie Billy Butcherson in the Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus," a character he revisited for "Hocus Pocus 2." He later became a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, playing Abe Sabien in "Hellboy" and "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," the Faun and terrifying Pale Man in "Pan's Labyrinth," and the unnamed amphibian man in "The Shape of Water." As for roles where he actually shows his face, Jones was Baron Afanas in 10 episodes of "What We Do in the Shadows" and played the Arrowverse's Jake Simmons aka Deathbolt.

Paul Winfield As Dathon

The Children of Tama -- also known as the Tamarians -- have thus far had the strongest screen presence on the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks." Beyond showing up in a couple of novels connected to "Star Trek: Voyager," Tamarians have almost no prior history in the "Trek" universe -- with the notable exception of their original debut. Once again, that happened on an episode of "The Next Generation," in Season 5's "Darmok." That episode not only introduces the Tamarian race but also its most prominent live-action ambassador thus far -- Captain Dathon.

"Darmok" is often considered one of the best "The Next Generations" episodes of all time, as well as one of Patrick Stewart's greatest performances as Jean-Luc Picard in the series. But respect must also be paid to actor Paul Winfield, whose portrayal of Dathon went a long way in making the episode -- and the character -- so memorable. Winfield, who was an Emmy winner and Academy Award nominee, had previously played Captain Terrell in the film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

Other career highlights include "The Terminator" and recurring roles on the series "227" and "Touched by an Angel," plus the "Picket Fences" guest appearance that earned him his Emmy. Winfield remained active in both film and television right up until his death in 2004.

Eric Bana As Nero

After the disappointing critical and commercial performance of "Star Trek: Nemesis," the "Star Trek" film series needed a break. With none of the subsequent TV series having enough cultural cache to justify building big-budget theatrical movies around them, the only choice was to go the big-budget soft reboot route -- which is how we got to J.J. Abrams' 2009 release, simply titled "Star Trek." Providing a new origin story for the crew of the Enterprise, while conveniently having it set in an alternate timeline so the original canon could still be returned to if need be, "Star Trek '09," as its often called, successfully breathed new life into the flailing franchise.

Much of the plot of the "Star Trek" reboot revolves around a new character named Nero, a Romulan captain who travels back in time to destroy Vulcan in an act of revenge -- inadvertently creating the two branching timelines in the process. Both actor Eric Bana and the movie's makeup team did such a convincing job of transforming Bana into Nero that even Bana's own agent failed to recognize the actor when he was on set in his full Nero makeup and costume.

Prior to becoming a Romulan, Bana had portrayed Bruce Banner in Ang Lee's "Hulk," Trojan prince Hector in the action epic "Troy," and lead character Avner Kaufman in Steven Spielberg's historical drama "Munich."

Armin Shimerman As Quark

When the Ferengis were conceptualized by "Star Trek" creator Gene Rodenberry and "The Next Generation" writer Herbert J. Wright, they were originally meant to be a dark and menacing villain presence. But that didn't pan out, and they very quickly became comic relief instead. Quark was the standout member of the Ferengi race, to the point that he became one of the main cast members on "Deep Space Nine" as the station's bartender for all seven seasons of the show.

In both his original "The Next Generation" appearances as well as on "Deep Space Nine," Quark was portrayed by actor Armin Shimerman. The geek-minded might better recognize Shimerman -- sans the extensive prosthetics used to transform him into a Ferengi -- as Principal Snyder on the "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" TV series. Shimerman is also a prolific voice actor, playing General Skarr in "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" and Dr. Nefarious across the entire "Ratchet & Clank" video game franchise. When he's not acting, Shimerman occasionally moonlights as a writer, even penning a Quark-focused "Deep Space Nine" novel called "The 34th Rule" with David R. George III. He's also open to returning as Quark, but on one condition : that it not be anything more than a recurring role, noting the difficulty of wearing the prosthetics that the role requires.

Pancho Demmings As Kradin Soldier

Resembling the Predator alien species from the franchise of the same name, the Kradin are one of the scarier-looking species to ever make an appearance in any "Star Trek" media. Apart from a few quick glimpses elsewhere, they only played a significant role in the franchise in just a single episode of "Voyager" -- the Season 4 episode titled "Nemesis." Even so, the Kradin left a lasting impression among "Trek" fans, not only for their gruesome appearance but for the episode itself being a favorite among fans of the series.

The performers that brought Kradin to life in that episode include Peter Vogt, Chuck Borden, and Louis Ortiz, though the most well-known actor among all the Kradin soldiers is likely Pancho Demmings. Demmings also played Gerald Jackson, assistant to Ducky Mallard (David McCallum), on 15 episodes of "NCIS." He's appeared on shows like "Bones," "CSI: NY," "24," and "Alias," and he most frequently plays police officers or members of the medical profession. Demmings also played a character named Alpha 7 in the "Babylon 5" TV movie "In the Beginning."

Hannah Cheesman As Airiam

While cyborgs are no strangers to the crews of various Federation starships -- most notably, Voyager's former Borg drone, Seven of Nine -- Airiam was still special in that regard. She rose all the way to the rank of lieutenant commander on the Discovery, though she was ultimately killed when she had to be ejected from the ship for fear that the entity that corrupted her would jeopardize the entire crew. Her sacrifice was at the center of one of the saddest "Star Trek" episodes ever , though some fans complained that it was too little too late for a character that never got the development she deserved.

In the first season of "Star Trek: Discovery," Airiam was played by Sara Mitich. In Season 2, Mitich switched to playing operations officer Nilsson, while actor Hannah Cheesman was brought in to take over as Airiam for the remainder of the series. It has never been officially revealed why the swap happened, with a popular (but as of yet unsubstantiated) rumor suggesting it had something to do with Mitich having an allergic reaction to the prosthetics. Either way, Cheesman held the role the longest and saw it through to not only Airiam's demise but one last appearance in the show's final season. Cheesman's biggest part outside of the "Star Trek" universe so far was a recurring role on the Nickelodeon series "Max & Shred."

Jeffrey Combs As Shran

Shran is an Andorian who was a recurring character on "Enterprise." He spent the first few seasons as one of the show's more prominent villains, eventually flipping sides and allying with the crew towards the end of the show's run. Though Shran himself hasn't appeared on screen since "Enterprise," he was referenced years later when a ship called the USS Shran was used during the Battle of the Binary Stars that occurred during Season 2 of "Discovery." A high honor, indeed.

It was actor Jeffrey Combs underneath Shran's blue skin, white hair, and heavily textured forehead. Before playing Shran, Combs had also portrayed the characters of Weyoun, Brunt, Officer Mulkahey, and Tiron across 32 episodes of "Deep Space Nine." Prior to "Enterprise," Combs also played Penk in an episode of "Voyager." And he wasn't done with "Trek" even after playing Shran, having most recently voiced AGIMUS in "Lower Decks."

With all that being said, Combs isn't even best known for his "Star Trek" work -- that distinction likely belongs to his portrayal of scientist Herbert West in all three installments of the "Re-Animator" film series, as well as his work in many other cult classic horror films.

Ethan Philips As Neelix

Though he was introduced in the series premiere of "Voyager" and was a main cast member for all seven seasons of the show, Neelix has never been one of the better-liked "Star Trek" characters, particularly among those who have been series regulars. Of course, he has also occasionally found himself brought up in discussions about the most underrated "Star Trek" characters -- so perhaps the most accurate way to refer to him is divisive. As for the character himself, his main job on the ship was its cook and also its morale officer, serving a similar role to previous "Trek" characters like Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and Quark as food service workers and also de facto therapists for the crew of their respective ships.

Whether you love or hate Neelix, you can't fault the actor who portrayed him. Ethan Philips definitely made the best of a character that was perhaps intentionally designed to be unlikable -- which he honed after having been a working actor for 15 years at that point. He was no stranger to television, playing recurring character Pete Downey on the classic sitcom "Benson." He also played Ferengi Dr. Farek in an episode of "The Next Generation" and another one-off Ferengi in "Enterprise." More recently, Philips has made multi-episode appearances on "Girls," "Better Call Saul," and "Veep."

Michael Dorn As Worf

OG "Star Trek" fans remember the Klingons as one of the deadliest antagonists groups in the franchise, with several of the "The Original Series" movies in particular featuring them as the primary antagonists. But at this point, Klingons as a whole have been allies to the Federation far longer than they've been adversaries -- and Worf played a pivotal role in that initial changeover. Not only was he the first Klingon to be a main character in a "Star Trek" show, but he was such an integral part of the universe that he appeared in all seven seasons of "The Next Generation" and was a series regular for Seasons 4 through 7 of "Deep Space Nine," the highest number of total seasons (11) as a main character of any character in "Star Trek" history." And that's to say nothing of his recurring role in Season 3 of "Picard."

Actor Michael Dorn played Worf in varying degrees for 36 years. He clearly doesn't have issues with Worf being his legacy. But it's not the only character the seasoned actor has played. Dorn played Dr. Carver Burke across six episodes of "Castle," as well as portraying the magical being Sandman in two of the three "Santa Clause" movies plus the Disney+ series "The Santa Clauses." However, the bulk of Dorn's non-Worf roles over the past few decades have been voice performances, lending his distinctive baritone to a number of animated series and video games.

Heather Langenkamp As Moto

The second installment of the rebooted "Star Trek" movie series was "Star Trek Into Darkness," which loosely retells the story of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" with Benedict Cumberbatch as the iconic villain originally immortalized by Ricardo Montalbán. Also in that movie in a minor role is a being known as Moto, which has a much more exaggerated extraterrestrial look than a typical "Star Trek" character and really put the movie's makeup artists to the test. In fact, it was a member of the makeup team that is underneath Mojo's very elaborate prosthetics -- but not just any member.

The makeup work of "Into Darkness" was done by AFX Studio, which is owned by David Leroy Anderson and his wife, Heather Langenkamp. Of course, before Langenkamp was working behind the camera, she was in front of it -- most notably as Nancy Thompson in three of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" films. Langenkamp said she had fond memories of watching Robert Englund sit in the makeup chair as he was transformed into Freddy Krueger, and always wanted the chance to experience that sort of transformation herself. So when a few alien extras were needed to fill out a scene in "Into Darkness," Langenkamp jumped at the chance, and she was put into an alien prosthetic that was created for a different project but never used.

Alice Krige As Borg Queen

Several actors have portrayed Borg queens over the years, include Alison Pill, Susanna Thompson, Jane Edwina Seymour, and the late Annie Wersching. And each brought their own unique spin to the character, undoubtedly one of the biggest bads in the entire "Star Trek" franchise. But if any one actor gets to claim herself as the "definitive" Borg queen, it's definitely Alice Krige. Not only was she the originator of the role in the character's first appearance in the film "Star Trek: First Contact," but she also portrayed her in episodes of "Voyager," "Lower Decks," and took over to voice her in her final "Picard" appearance after Wersching passed away -- making her the actor who has played the Borg Queen the longest and in the most different projects. But what does the Borg Queen look like today , and what else has Krige been up to?

Krige is a veteran actor whose screen credits go back to the 1970s. Her first big role was portraying real-life singer and actor Sybil Gordon in the Oscar-winning 1981 film "Chariots of Fire." Today, she's more recognizable for her recent roles as Eir in "Thor: The Dark World," Holda the witch in "Gretel & Hansel," and Nancy in Netflix's "The OA." She also played Queen Helena in all three installments of the holiday-based rom-com series "A Christmas Prince."

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Chris Pine’s Best Moment As Star Trek’s Captain Kirk Isn’t the One You Think

Hint: It doesn't involve the Kobayashi Maru test.

The Big Picture

Chris Pine's portrayal of James T. Kirk in Star Trek showcases a journey from selfishness to selflessness, reflecting growth and heroism.
The film reboots the iconic sci-fi franchise with action-packed sequences and a new timeline that sets up the origins of Kirk and Spock's friendship. Pine's best moment as Captain Kirk is in the final sequence of the film where he and Spock work together to infiltrate the Narada .
Pine brings sensitivity to Kirk's character, fulfilling his father's legacy and showcasing a vulnerability that highlights his heroic transition.

There really should not be a debate over who is Hollywood’s “Best Chris,” as Chris Pine has easily proven himself as an actor of real depth . Between his steely role in the neo-Western Hell or High Water and his charismatic romanticism as Steve Trevor in the Wonder Woman films, Pine has shown that he’s capable of standing out within talented ensembles. However, the challenges he faced when stepping into the role of James T. Kirk in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise were immeasurable. While William Shatner’s performance has been cited as the gold standard of overacting, Pine brought a surprising sensitivity and nuance to his role as the younger Captain Kirk.

The mythology of Star Trek is quite dense, but director J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot serves as a great entry point for newcomers to the franchise. By taking place within an alternate universe known as the “Kelvin Timeline,” the new trilogy was able to forge a new direction and show the events leading up to the iconic episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series . Longtime fans may have struggled accepting a new actor in Shatner’s iconic role, but Pine gave Kirk a complete character arc during the action-packed conclusion of 2009’s Star Trek when he and Spock worked together to infiltrate the Narada.

Star Trek (2009)

J.J. Abrams' 2009 movie Star Trek rebooted the iconic sci-fi franchise in a totally new timeline. When a Romulan ship travels back in time and alters the past, the lives of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the future crew of the USS Enterprise are drastically changed. In this new timeline, the Romulan Nero (Eric Bana) sets out for revenge on Spock, setting off a chain of events that reshape the entire universe.

Chris Pine's Best Moment as Kirk Comes in 'Star Trek's Final Act

While the original Star Trek series took place in an established universe, the reboot film examines how Kirk rose from a humble background to become one of the bravest and most accomplished captains in the history of Starfleet . Bravery is always in his wheelhouse, but Kirk starts off the film as a selfish jerk who only uses Starfleet to advance his own ego. Kirk essentially decides to enlist in Starfleet Academy in order to win a bet with Captain Christopher Pike ( Bruce Greenwood ). Following this, he seems more interested in starting feuds with Spock ( Zachary Quinto ) and flirting with Lieutenant Uhura ( Zoe Saldaña ) than he is fulfilling the Prime Directive. However, a pivotal conversation with Spock Prime ( Leonard Nimoy ) indicates to Kirk that he has a greater legacy to fulfill.

Pine shows in Star Trek's conclusion that Kirk has grown more responsible. His mission is a critical one; the ruthless Romulan, Captain Nero ( Eric Bana ), has already destroyed the planet Vulcan, and is intent on leading an attack on Earth. While Pine has always done a great job at showing that Kirk has a keen sense of humor, his complexion grows far more grave when he informs his crew about the impending mission. Kirk realizes that everything he came from, including his family and friends on Earth, is at stake. It’s the first instance in the film where he develops a knack for heroism that is entirely selfless, and not out of a desperate attempt to prove himself worthy to the other characters.

What Happened to the 'Madame Web' Director's Star Trek Movie?

While the final sequence includes the type of kinetic action that is common in Abrams’ films , Star Trek shows how Pine’s Kirk has learned from his eclectic experiences . Kirk has spent a majority of the film sneaking around Starfleet facilities in order to solidify his place within the crew of the Enterprise ; it's fitting that his finest hour involves infiltrating an advanced spacecraft in a daring and heroic mission that doesn’t follow official protocols. Kirk’s final brawl with the ruthless Romulan villain Ayel ( Clifton Collins Jr. ) shows how his checkered past ends up benefiting him. Although he started the film getting into a bar brawl with haughty Starfleet officers, Kirk finally puts his nasty hand-to-hand combat skills to good use.

'Star Trek' Shows the Origin of Kirk’s Friendship With Spock

One of the most interesting revisions that 2009’s Star Trek makes to the core mythology of the franchise is positioning Kirk and Spock as rivals. Although the two eventually grow into close friends throughout the original series , Spock’s insistence on sticking to procedures initially rubs Kirk the wrong way. The ending of Star Trek teases the eventual bond that will develop between Kirk and Spock, as they are forced to work together in order to sneak aboard the Narada . Pine is more cheerful in his interactions, indicating that Kirk has taken Spock Prime’s words about their respective destinies to heart. As unlikely as it seems to him initially, he’s grown to accept the idea that he and Spock could be friends.

Although he makes a few jokes at his new ally’s expense, Pine shows that Kirk has come to acknowledge Spock’s feelings . Kirk has been so infuriated with Spock’s attitude that he has overlooked the fact that Vulcan has been destroyed; Spock lost much of his family and cultural heritage. Kirk is well-aware that Spock is half-human , and that Earth is the only planet he has left to call home. There’s a sensitivity to how Pine characterizes Kirk’s attitude; he recognizes the pain that Spock feels upon losing a parent, as it’s one that he knows all-too well.

Kirk Fulfills His Father’s Legacy at the End of 'Star Trek'

Star Trek begins with a harrowing opening sequence featuring Chris Hemsworth as Kirk’s father, George , who sacrifices himself in order to save the crew of the Kelvin from a Romulan attack. Pine gives Kirk the chance to mirror his father’s heroic action , as he goes into the mission with an acknowledgment that he could easily perish. Although the Romulans were responsible for his father’s death, Pine doesn’t turn Kirk into a vengeful character; rather, his heroic endeavors indicate that Kirk has learned to take pride in his family name.

2009’s Star Trek was a surprise hit at the box office , and spawned two direct sequels that faced Kirk off against even more ruthless villains . Pine turned Kirk into an empathetic hero whose vulnerability was an attribute; it was in Star Trek ’s finest hours that he made the steady transition into the hero fans knew he would become.

Star Trek is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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Complete History Of The Gorn In Star Trek

10 star trek: voyager alien villains ranked, worst to best, 10 good things in star trek: picard season 1.

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area has been a popular filming location for numerous TV shows and films, including Star Trek classics.
The iconic fights and scenarios in Star Trek episodes were shot at Vasquez Rocks, solidifying its association with the franchise.
From Captain Kirk's battle with the Gorn to Dr. McCoy's encounters, Vasquez Rocks has been a backdrop for many memorable Star Trek moments.

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area in Los Angeles, California has been used as a filming location for several episodes of various Star Trek series. Because of its location around twenty-five miles from downtown LA, numerous television series have been filmed at Vasquez Rocks such as 24, The Big Bang Theory, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Roswell, and The Twilight Zone , among many others. The park has also popped up in many films, including Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Blazing Saddles, Galaxy Quest, and the 2001 adaptation of Planet of the Apes.

Although Vasquez Rocks is a common filming location for many productions, they have become particularly associated with Star Trek . From Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) iconic fight with the Gorn to Dr. Leonard McCoy's (DeForest Kelley) encounter with the White Rabbit, Vasquez Rocks has served as the backdrop for many classic Star Trek moments. One prominent rock formation has even earned the nickname "Kirk's Rock," due to its association with Star Trek: The Original Series . Some of the films and television shows mentioned above filmed at Vasquez Rocks because of its connection to Star Trek, using it for a comedic spoof or parody.

Vasquez Rocks also served as the planet Vulcan in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009).

How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order

The Star Trek TV franchise has existed for 57 years and consists of 12 shows (and counting). Here's how to watch them all in timeline order.

10 Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Episode 15 - "Shore Leave"

Shore leave planet, star trek: the original series.

When the USS Enterprise arrives at a planet that looks perfect for shore leave, Captain Kirk and some crew members beam down. Soon after they arrive, the crew making up the landing party begins experiencing strange encounters they cannot explain. Soon, Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and the rest of the survey team are stranded on the planet with no way to communicate with the Enterprise.

As they work to find a way out of their situation, a Medieval knight appears and seems to kill Dr. McCoy. Kirk and Spock then realize that the planet creates scenarios based on the Enterprise crew members' imaginations . As the Starfleet Officers try to refrain from thinking, an elderly "Caretaker" appears, explaining that the planet is a sort of amusement park that does not cause permanent harm. Dr. McCoy is restored, and the Caretaker apologizes for the misunderstanding.

9 Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Episode 18 - "Arena"

Metron planet.

In one of the most memorable episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, Captain Kirk finds himself stranded on a desert planet with a dangerous Gorn. An advanced species known as the Metrons have left Kirk and the Gorn on a barren unnamed planet, forcing them to battle to the death. Vasquez Rocks serves as the backdrop for Kirk's iconic fight with the Gorn , as the Enterprise Captain uses the resources found on the planet to create a cannon-like device.

The Gorn have become one of the Federation's most formidable foes in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Here's everything we know about them.

The Metrons allow Kirk's crew to watch their Captain from the safety of the Starship Enterprise, as Kirk first tries communicating with Gorn before the two fight for their lives. In the end, Kirk outsmarts the Gorn, but ultimately allows him to live, which impresses the watching Metrons. The Metrons conclude that there is hope for humanity, and they send Kirk and the Enterprise back to their own area of space.

8 Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Episode 27 - "The Alternative Factor"

Lazarus' planet.

When Captain Kirk and Spock investigate a strange anomaly on an unknown planet, they encounter a man named Lazarus (Robert Brown), who fades in and out of existence. Sometimes, Lazarus appears rational and well-kept, while other times, he is crazed and wounded. Kirk and Spock eventually realize that there are two versions of Lazarus — one from the normal universe and one from the anti-matter universe.

The rational Lazarus explains that Kirk must destroy his time-traveling spaceship in order to save both universes. Vasquez Rocks serves as Lazarus' home planet, and the setting for much of the action as the two Lazaruses chase one another. "The Alternative Factor" is generally considered one of Star Trek's weaker episodes, as neither the storyline nor the science makes sense.

Previous Star Trek: TOS episodes established that the Enterprise itself is propelled by a reaction between matter and antimatter, and yet "The Alternative Factor" suggests the universe will be destroyed if matter and antimatter come together.

7 Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2, Episode 11 - "Friday's Child"

In Star Trek 's "Friday's Child," Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to Capella IV to negotiate with the inhabitants, but find that the Klingons have also sent a representative. After the Capellan leader who favored the Federation is killed, the new leader, Maab (Michael Dante) orders the death of the previous leader's wife, Eleen (Julie Newmar). Since Eleen is innocent and very pregnant, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy help her escape into the nearby hills.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Eleen evade capture in the desert landscape of Capella IV, represented by Vasquez Rocks. McCoy helps Eleen give birth to her son, and Eleen later takes control of her people while acting as her son's regent. She reestablishes the deal with the Federation and names her son Leonard James Akaar, after McCoy and Kirk.

6 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 4 - "Who Watches the Watchers"

Mintaka iii, star trek: the next generation.

As the USS Enterprise-D provides assistance to a hidden Federation outpost on Mintaka III in Star Trek: The Next Generation , a local named Liko (Ray Wise) sees the outpost. When Liko is injured while trying to get a better look, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gate McFadden) has him beamed up to the Enterprise for treatment. Liko regains consciousness and observes the Enterprise and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

In order to avoid further breaking the Prime Directive , Crusher attempts to wipe Liko's memory, but the procedure doesn't work properly. Liko remembers Picard as a god and spreads this news to the other Mintakans, forcing Picard to beam down to the planet to correct the mistake. The familiar landscape of Vasquez Rocks stands in for Mintaka and serves as a nice callback to Star Trek: The Original Series .

5 Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 2 - "Initiations"

Star trek voyager.

In Star Trek: Voyager , Vasquez Rocks also make its way all the way to the Delta Quadrant, standing in for Tarok, a moon orbiting a gas giant. When Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) is captured by the Kazon, he escapes onto the nearby Tarok . Tracking his signal, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) , and Kes (Jennifer Lien) later arrive on the moon to rescue Chakotay.

New alien villains fought against Captain Kathryn Janeway and the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, but some foes were more successful than others.

With help from a young Kazon named Kar (Aron Eisenberg), Chakotay reunites with his crew members. Despite having the chance to shoot Chakotay, Kar instead kills the Kazon commander , Razik (Patrick Kilpatrick). Kar and the remaining Kazon then allow the Voyager crew members to leave peacefully.

Aron Eisenberg played the Ferengi Nog in 45 episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

4 Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 13 - "Gravity"

Subspace sinkhole planet.

In Star Trek: Voyager 's "Gravity," Tuvok, Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) , and The Doctor (Robert Picardo) find themselves stranded on a desert planet where time moves faster than it does elsewhere. While on the planet, they encounter a woman named Noss (Lori Petty), who helps Tuvok and Paris survive on the inhospitable planet. As Captain Janeway and the USS Voyager's crew work to retrieve their crewmates, Noss develops feelings for Tuvok that the Vulcan cannot reciprocate.

Captain Janeway is eventually able to communicate with her stranded officers and beam them back to Voyager. While only two days have passed on the ship, it has been over two months for Tuvok and Paris. Tuvok shares a mind-meld with Noss, showing her that he cares for her even if they cannot be together romantically.

3 Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1, Episode 5 - "Unexpected"

Xyrillian homeworld, star trek: enterprise.

When the Enterprise NX-01 discovers a cloaked Xyrillian ship traveling in its wake, Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) travels to the vessel to help with repairs. Once there, he works with the Xyrillian engineer Ah'Len (Julianne Christie), and the two grow close, eventually playing a telepathic game. Ah'Len takes Tucker to the holodeck to show him her home world, which is made up of shots of Vasquez Rocks combined with CGI.

When Tucker returns to the Enterprise, he notices a strange growth on his wrist, and Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) informs the engineer that he is pregnant. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) orders his crew to locate the Xyrillian ship, and Tucker returns to inform Ah'Len about what happened. She apologizes, not realizing that pregnancy is possible with a different species, and transfers the embryo to a Xyrillian host.

2 Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Episode 2 - "Maps & Legends"

Vasquez rocks, earth, star trek: picard.

Star Trek: Picard season 1 marks the first time Vasquez Rocks appears in Star Trek as the actual location on Earth rather than as a stand-in for an alien planet. As Jean-Luc Picard sets out to look for Soji Asha (Isa Briones) , the android "daughter" of the late Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), he visits Starfleet Headquarters to request a ship and crew.

Star Trek: Picard season 1 had its flaws, but there were many good things about how it updated the story of Patrick Stewart's TNG character.

After Starfleet refuses Picard's request for a ship, he seeks out his former colleague, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). Raffi had served with Picard during the evacuation of Romulus but had since left Starfleet. Now living in a small home situated in Vasquez Rocks, Raffi reluctantly agrees to meet with Picard.

Terran Empire

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The Terran Empire was a repressive interstellar government dominated by the Terrans from Earth , locally named Terra by the 23rd century, in the mirror universe . The Empire ruled by terror, its Imperial Starfleet acting as its iron fist. In the Imperial Starfleet, officers often promoted themselves by killing superiors that did not follow the rules of the Empire. Torture was a common form of interrogation and discipline. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly "; TOS : " Mirror, Mirror ")

1.1 Religion
2.1 Early history
2.2 21st century
2.3 22nd century
2.4 23rd and 24th centuries
3 Subjugated races
4.1 Background information
4.2 Apocrypha
4.3 See also
4.4 External link

Culture [ ]

Going by rebellion sources, the culture of the Empire was fascistic , described as oppressive, racist and xenophobic , predicated on an unconditional hatred and rejection of anything and everything "other". Michael Burnham summarized this information by identifying the Empire as the antithesis of the United Federation of Planets in every way. ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ")

Humans of the prime universe could be violent, but violence was so ingrained in Terran culture that it self-propagated as an evolutionary survival mechanism, resulting in a strength that Michael Burnham described as "painted rust" – a facade hiding mutual fear between target and potential killer. From what she had heard of the Terran Empire, Katrina Cornwell came to the conclusion that, on the basis that prime universe Humans would be unaccustomed to the barbarism commonplace on Terran starships, the prime universe's Gabriel Lorca could not have survived his trip to the mirror universe. ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ", " The War Without, The War Within ")

Philippa Georgiou claimed that the only motivation Terrans had for any given action was revenge . ( DIS : " Die Trying ")

Religion [ ]

During a debrief at Starfleet Headquarters in the 32nd century , the former Terran emperor , Philippa Georgiou , revealed that an alternate First Contact Day was celebrated in the Terran Empire as a Holy Day, commemorating Zefram Cochrane 's successful repulse of the first wave of a Vulcan invasion and the acquisition of Vulcan technology which was used to establish the Empire as a space-faring power. ( DIS : " Die Trying ") She also claimed that an emperor's victims became their servants in the afterlife. ( DIS : " Terra Firma, Part 1 ")

History [ ]

Early history [ ].

In 2155 , Commander Jonathan Archer stated that the Empire had existed for "centuries". ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ") One of the Empire's early outer space conquests was a landing on Terra's moon , Luna , where it planted its flag. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ", " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II " opening credits ) Millennia ago, Terrans abandoned ideals such as freedom, equality and co-operation as they found them to be, in Georgiou's words, "destructive ideals that fuel rebellions". ( DIS : " Vaulting Ambition ")

21st century [ ]

Humanity's first contact with an alien species in the mirror universe began exactly as it did in the traditional universe. Upon detecting Zefram Cochrane 's warp signature , the Vulcan scout ship T'Plana-Hath landed in Bozeman , Montana , to make first contact with Humanity. Instead of welcoming the Vulcans in a spirit of friendship and understanding, the mirror Cochrane killed the first Vulcan to set foot on Terran soil with a shotgun , as the he and his fellow Terrans boarded and ransacked the Vulcan ship after killing the first officer also. According to mirror Archer, the Vulcan first contact was considered a prelude to invasion.

Instead of the Vulcans gradually releasing technology to Terra over time, the Terran Empire applied the stolen Vulcan technology to a policy of aggressive interstellar expansion. Because of this, the Empire was able to engage in technological research and development considerably earlier than its United Earth counterpart in the prime universe. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ")

22nd century [ ]

By the 2150s , the Terran Empire had already conquered the Vulcans , Denobulans , Andorians , Aenar , Orions , and Tellarites and had launched attacks against the Klingons , Rigelians , and Xindi . The flagship of the Empire, the ISS Enterprise , under the command of Captain Maximilian Forrest , had a much more racially-diverse crew than its prime-universe counterpart, with numerous Vulcans and Tellarites serving as crew members.

Due to the rapid initial expansion made possible by the captured Vulcan technology, the Empire's hold on its territories was initially weak. By 2155 , some of the worlds conquered by the Terrans were beginning to rebel against Terran rule, leading to a long-running conflict , and after a disastrous defeat at Tau Ceti , the Empire came to the brink of collapse. Propaganda , however, conveyed the message that things were going in the Empire's favor and that the war would be over soon.

In that year, the USS Defiant , a Federation ship launched in the 23rd century of a parallel universe , was reported in Tholian space. The first officer of the ISS Enterprise , Commander Archer, reviewed this report and proposed a bold surgical strike at an asteroid base at which the Tholians were keeping the Defiant . Archer's proposal was quickly rejected by Forrest, causing Archer to mutiny against his captain and take control of Enterprise to retrieve the Defiant so its technology could be utilized against the rebellion. Enterprise traveled to the base and dispatched a boarding party to gain all information they could about the ship, and destroy it to prevent the Tholians from being able to use it. Unfortunately, during the retrieval operation, the Tholians attacked Enterprise and destroyed it, stranding the boarding party aboard the Defiant . ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ")

Emperors Eyes Only - Background on Mirror Universe PADD

The truth about interphasic space and the origin of the Defiant remained classified for "Emperor's Eyes Only" into the mid-23rd century.

Following the destruction of the ISS Enterprise and the death of Captain Forrest, Commander Archer and his away team commandeered the USS Defiant . They proceeded to destroy the Tholian hangar in which the ship was being held and rescued a number of former Enterprise crewmembers , including Hoshi Sato , after apparent consideration of leaving their comrades stranded. Archer made a rendezvous with the ISS Avenger , the flagship of Admiral Black . Archer vaporized the admiral and took command of both vessels.

However, this coincided with Commander T'Pol and Crewman Soval leading the other non-Human crewmembers on board the Avenger in a mutiny aboard the ship. They attacked the Defiant in hopes of destroying it but the mutiny itself was destroyed after Commander Charles Tucker III reinitialized power systems that Phlox had attempted to disable. Commander Archer, acting as captain, then set a direct course for Terra, where he intended to declare himself Emperor of the Terran Empire. However, Hoshi Sato poisoned him with the assistance of his bodyguard , Travis Mayweather . The two then took control of the Defiant , and upon arriving at Terra, Sato declared herself Empress . ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

At some point between 2155 and the 2250s, the symbol of the Empire appears to have been altered. The earlier symbol closely resembled that of the United Earth government, depicting all of Terra's continents, though replacing a laurel of peace with an aggressive sword. However, by the mid- 23rd century , the symbol, while remaining essentially the same, had a mirrored globe and what seemed to be an inverted delta in the background. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II "; DIS : " Despite Yourself ")

23rd and 24th centuries [ ]

Terran emblem in 2256

By the mid- 23rd century , the Terran Empire had conquered much of known space. However, it continued to be resisted by an alliance of non-Human species, including Vulcans , Andorians , and Klingons . Furthermore Gabriel Lorca of the ISS Buran attempted a failed coup against Emperor Philippa Georgiou . By 2256 or 2257 Starfleet engaged a rebel fleet at Porathia . ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ")

The same year, the Imperial Intelligence located the headquarters of the resistance on Harlak , which was destroyed by the ISS Charon . ( DIS : " The Wolf Inside ")

In 2257, Lorca was able to resume his coup against Georgiou, having escaped the mirror universe and manipulated his way back with a Federation starship, the USS Discovery . For a while, the coup was successful, but Discovery had been informed that Lorca was Terran by the prime Michael Burnham , who Lorca had become obsessed with due to his relationship with the mirror Burnham , and Discovery defeated Lorca. However, although Lorca was killed, not only was Georgiou deposed, but the Charon had been destroyed, and she had been brought to the prime universe, resulting in a power vacuum. ( DIS : " Vaulting Ambition ", " What's Past Is Prologue ", " The War Without, The War Within ")

Not long after this, the symbol was changed yet again, returning to its delta-less version and, this time, depicting only the continents of Terra's western hemisphere.

Eventually, the power vacuum was filled. The Empire encountered a Gorlan uprising, to which the ISS Enterprise , captained by James T. Kirk , responded with the destruction of the rebels' home planet. Other feats of Captain Kirk by 2264 included the execution of five thousand colonists on Vega IX and the annihilation of all remaining inhabitants of Talos IV . In 2267, the Empire coveted the dilithium reserves of the Halkan homeworld and Kirk interceded to demand mining rights on behalf of the Empire.

Emblem worn by a Terran slave

In that year, crewmembers of the ISS Enterprise , including Captain Kirk, accidentally switched places with their prime universe counterparts of the USS Enterprise , who in the same time were transported aboard the mirror version of the Enterprise . Kirk believed that the mirror Spock would one day become captain of the ISS Enterprise , and before returning to his own reality, he planted a seed of doubt about the inevitability of the Empire and whether violence was the only logical answer. Spock promised to consider Kirk's words, after realizing the Empire would only last about 240 years before being overthrown. ( TOS : " Mirror, Mirror ")

As Kirk predicted, the mirror Spock later eventually rose to become Commander-in-Chief of the Empire. He began instituting major reforms that were very popular, turning the Empire into a more peaceful and less aggressive power. However, Spock's reforms left the Empire unprepared to defend itself against the emerging threat of a united Klingon-Cardassian Alliance , which managed to conquer the entire Terran Empire, turning the Terrans themselves into a slave race. The Bajorans , a people conquered by the Empire, came to be a powerful voice in this Alliance. ( DS9 : " Crossover ")

Subjugated races [ ]

Appendices [ ], background information [ ].

Robert Hewitt Wolfe decided to give the Terran Empire some formidable enemies. " Empires aren't usually brutal unless there's a reason. There are usually external or internal pressures that cause them to be that way, " he commented. " So I just thought that if the parallel Earth was that brutal, there had to be a reason. And the reason was that the barbarians (the Klingons and the Cardassians ) were at the gate. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. ? ))

Wolfe based the Terran Empire's predicament on historical precedents. He further elaborated, " My analogy was to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was as brutal and as nasty as it was because all around it, it had very aggressive barbarians that it was afraid of. The Chinese had the same thing, the Mongols were always there. So if you suddenly make the Romans nice guys, or the Chinese nice guys, well that's great and everything, but then the Mongols come across and it's all over. So that was kind of the idea. " ( citation needed • edit )

In the first draft script of DS9 : " Through the Looking Glass ", Benjamin Sisko described the Terran Empire as "corrupt, brutal, and doomed to collapse in any case." Mirror O'Brien, however, longed for the days when the Empire still existed and, later in the same script, Rom suggested reestablishing the Empire once the Terran Rebellion succeeded, with Sisko as the head of the Empire. Sisko himself, though, was against that idea, commenting, " The Terran Empire was every bit as corrupt as the Alliance. " The Empire wasn't referenced at all in the final draft script of "Through the Looking Glass". ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library ; [3] )

After the premiere of DIS : " Vaulting Ambition ", screenwriter Jordon Nardino answered fan's questions through his Twitter feed. On the topic of the Terran Empire's relation to ancient Rome, Nardino stated that, " Lots of discussion in the room about the origins of the Terran Empire. In terms of canon, as always, it's what's on screen and nothing more. Unanswered questions leave avenues for future seasons / iterations of Trek to explore. I do not know if MU's "point of departure" is a specific incident, or the entire history of the MU somehow darkly mirrors ours. Canon locks us into an origin no later than the 20th century. Georgiou's "millenia" could be construed as hyperbole. But I firmly do not believe the Terrans are merely a continuation of the Roman Empire. MU earth history should roughly (but darkly) mirror our history as much as possible. I think Rome never falling would diverge too much. Leaders with imperial pretensions have adopted the styles and titles of the Romans since… well… the minute Rome "fell"! Napoleon took the title Augustus. So it's natural the Terrans looked back to Rome too. " ( 'After Trek' Gives Details On Georgiou's Meal, Mirror Stamets, Terran Empire History And More ; [4] )

On the topic of Terran history and the meaning behind mirror Philippa Georgiou 's elaborate title, Nardino stated:

" All Hail her most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Kronos, Regina Andor, All Hail Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius. " But what's it mean??!? When we began digging into the Terrans last year, I had just read a newer history of Rome and was excited to use it as inspiration. ( SPQR by Mary Beard, check it out.) Here's some of the titles Roman Emperors used: [LINK ] So into her titles: – Father of the Fatherland is easy, we turned that into Mother of the Fatherland (even tho we de-gendered Emperor, it felt right) – Overlord of Vulcan : an early conquest of the Terrans, they see themselves as their protectors. It's paternalistic / delusional. – Dominus of Kronos : Terrans are very proud of conquering Qo'noS. Dominus is a harsher title the Emperor at the time took as a result (and Georgiou kept for herself). "We OWN them." Qo'noS mispronounced out of cultural chauvinism. – Regina Andor : Andoria is a jewel in the Terran crowd. Subjugated warrior race. Early Terran conquest, pre-Sato. The title was created to celebrate this achievement. Now as for Georgiou's many names… "Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius" Philipa Georgiou: her given name and her family name, just like Prime. Augustus: the Terrans see themselves as inheritors of the Roman Empire so their Emperors take the title of its first Emperor. ( 'After Trek' Gives Details On Georgiou's Meal, Mirror Stamets, Terran Empire History And More ; [5] )

Additionally, Nardino considered that Centaurius was the first system colonized by the Terrans owing to its proximity to Sol, thus resulting in the then-ruling Emperor taking its title in tribute. ( 'After Trek' Gives Details On Georgiou's Meal, Mirror Stamets, Terran Empire History And More ; [6] )

Apocrypha [ ]

In the game Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force , part of the story involves going through a scavenger base composed of many species' ships. One of these ships is an Imperial Starfleet vessel, apparently dating back to the 23rd century. It is populated by Humans, who behave typically for the mirror universe. How it came to be in Voyager 's canon dimension is unknown.

The novel The Sorrows of Empire depicts Spock becoming Emperor of the Terran Empire in 2277 and reforming the Empire into a democratic society, only to be overthrown and killed by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance in 2295. At the same time, he engineers events leading to the formation of the Alliance, believing that their conquest of the former Empire will ultimately lead to their downfall and the establishment of a Federation-style republic in the future (which occurs in the follow-up novel Rise Like Lions ).

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Dark Mirror – written and published before DS9's televised visits to the Mirror Universe – the Terran Empire (called the United Empire of Planets) is depicted as still existing in the 24th century, with Spock's reforms having been cut short by his death , speculated by Captain Jean-Luc Picard to be the result of his assassination after he pushed the Empire too far, too quickly. The crew of the mirror Enterprise -D are assigned a new mission to devise a means of bringing a ship from the prime universe into the mirror universe and then return after replacing its crew, the Empire having run out of territory that it can easily conquer in its own universe, but the Enterprise crew of the prime universe manage to sabotage their efforts and devise a method of detecting future incursions.

In the computer game Star Trek Online , by 2409, the Terran Rebellion has succeeded in overthrowing the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance and restored the Terran Empire to its former status as a major power in the quadrant . The Terran Empire of the 25th century has also returned to the old ways, having engaged in a series of hostile incursions into the prime universe. The Empire attempts to invade that universe using a trans-dimensional portal in the Badlands , and later allies with the Temporal Liberation Front. Imperial ships have markings similar to those used in the 22nd century, albeit red instead of yellow. The Emperor in the 25th century is revealed in the episode "The Eye of the Storm" (released in September 2022) to be the mirror counterpart of Wesley Crusher , who seeks to combine his powers from the Traveler with those of "the Other" (the mirror counterpart of V'ger ) to become a god and destroy all of existence. After he is defeated, he is replaced by Leeta , who up to that point had commanded the ISS Enterprise -F.

The mirror universe novella Saturn's Children identifies Andorians, Bolians , Tellarites, and Denobulans as part of the rebellion. Whereas the success of the Terran Rebellion has led to the reinstatement of the Terran Empire in Star Trek Online , in the novels, the democratic Commonwealth is established.

External link [ ]

Terran Empire at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
3 Marlys Burdette

Tracking Humans’ First Footsteps in North America

At a site in New Mexico, a new discovery rewrites the human history of the continent

Richard Grant

Smithsonian correspondent

Fossilized footprints preserved in gypsum mud

Ancient human footprints, preserved in a dry lakebed at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, reveal remarkably vivid vignettes of life in the late Pleistocene: children jumping in puddles and splashing, a group of hunters stalking a giant sloth. The scientists studying these footprints initially estimated their age as between 11,500 and 13,000 years. But now, radiocarbon dating has allowed experts to make a bombshell discovery: The oldest of these footprints are nearly 23,000 years old .

For many decades, archaeologists were convinced that the first people to arrive in the Americas came some 13,000 years ago, after the Ice Age glaciers melted. The White Sands footprints, whose age scholars estimated again, in a paper published this past October , by analyzing tree pollen and quartz grains in the sedimentary layers, provide the most conclusive evidence to date that humans were actually here much earlier, toward the end of the last ice age. It’s possible that they reached North America more than 32,000 years ago.

Now, “we need lots more sites to make sense of where they came from and by what route,” says Matthew Bennett, a professor of environmental and geographical sciences at Bournemouth University in England and lead author of two scientific papers about the footprints. “The lasting legacy of White Sands is to point the way to a new archive of evidence.”

The footprints were made by people walking on damp ground at the edge of a lake. Some are visible to the eye; others can only be found by ground-penetrating radar. Bennett knows of older human tracks in Africa and other parts of the world, but none, he says, “tell such a vivid, relatable story.” His first paper dating these tracks detailed a perilous journey undertaken by what appears to be a small woman or adolescent female, carrying a child on her hip, walking fast across the muddy lakeshore.

“There were hungry predators around, including dire wolves and saber-toothed cats,” says Bennett. “We can see where she slipped in the mud at certain points. … We can also see the child’s footprints where she set it down, presumably because she was tired and needed a rest.”

Based on the size of the footprints, it appears the child was less than 3 years old and did not accompany the older female on the return journey. Did she drop the kid off in a camp? Why were they traveling among dangerous animals on the slippery lakeshore?

“There’s no way of knowing,” says Bennett. “But if you’ve ever rushed to get somewhere important while carrying a tired toddler, you’ve experienced a very similar emotion”—even if you weren’t looking over your shoulder for saber-toothed cats.

Cover image of the Smithsonian Magazine June 2024 issue

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Richard Grant is an author and journalist based in Tucson, Arizona. His most recent book is The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi .

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